Flora and Fauna

History

American Indians inhabited the region when Spanish, French, and English explorers visited it in the 16^th century. It was included in the British charter of Carolina and in the French Louisian a claim and was ceded to Great Britain after the French and Indian War. The first permanent settlement was made in 1770. It was part of North Carolina until 1785, when the area's settlers broke away and formed the free state of Franklin. North Carolina relinquished its claim in 1789, and Tennessee became the 16th U.S. state in 1796. In 1861 it seceded from the Union; the hard-fought American Civil War battles occurred there. In 1866 it was the first state readmitted to the Union. During the Reconstruction era, blacks lost what little power they had gained. After World War II Tennessee became a testing ground for those involved in the civil rights movement. The state's economy is based on manufacturing.

Geography

It is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west.

The Great Smoky Mountains edge the eastern part of the state, while the Mississippi River is on its western boundary. The Tennessee River valley dominates much of the state, and the Tennessee Valley Authority is the nation's largest electric-power generating system. The three stars on the flag exactly represent the three different land forms in Tennessee: mountains in the east, highlands in the middle and lowlands in the west.

Both the Cumberland Plateau and the Great Valley are fertile and ideal for growing many different crops; the Great Valley is well watered. The Tennessee Appalachian Mountains are rugged, with numerous small valleys occupied by small farms.

Tennessee has a moderate climate; about half of it is forested.

The state of Tennessee has about 926 square miles of water that covers the state. Major rivers in Tennessee include Tennessee, Cumberland, Mississippi, Duck and Clinch Rivers. Some m ajor lakes include Old Hickory, Cheatham, Cordell Hull.

Flora and Fauna

Tennessee is one of the most biodiverse states in the country. It has more than 300 species of fish, 80 types of mammals, 130 species of reptiles and amphibians and more than 340 kinds of birds. Add in the invertebrates such as snails, mussels and crayfish, as well as thousands of i nsects, and Tennessee becomes a wonderland of flora and fauna. Several native plants and animals (mockingbird, raccoon, zebra swallowtail, wood duck, and osprey) have become the official ambassadors representative of the state of Tennessee.

The official Tennessee tree is the Tulip Tree, so named for the tulip-shaped flowers that attract birds. In 1933, the Tennessee legislation officially designated the purple iris as the state cultivated flower. The state's official wildflower is the passionflower.

Climate

Most of the state of Tennessee is said to have a humid subtropical climate. The mountain regions in the Appalachains are described as having a mountain temperate climate. Throughout the state there are hot summers and mild winters. They have generous rainfall with about 50 inches annually. Severe storms occur infrequently. The greatest rainfall occurs in the winter and early spring, especially March; the early fall months, particularly September and October, are the driest.

Major cities

The capital is Nashville, though Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro have all served as state capitals in the past. Memphis has the largest population of any city in the state. Nashville's 13-county metropolitan area has been the state's largest since 1990. Chattanooga and Knoxville, both in the eastern part of the state near the Great Smoky Mountains, each has approximately one-third of the population of Memphis or Nashville.

Nashville is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home to a large number of colleges and universities. It is known as a center of the music industry, earning it the nickname "Music City".

As the "home of country music", Nashville has become a major music recording and production center. All of the Big Four record labels, as well as numerous independent labels, have offices in Nashville. Nashville has been home to the headquarters of guitar company Gibson since 1984.

Although Nashville is renowned as a music recording center and tourist destination, its largest industry is actually health care. Nashville is home to more than 300 health care companies, including Hospital Corporation of America, the largest private operator of hospitals in the world.

Ot her interesting facts about Tennessee

1) The first ever combination candy bar was invented in Nashville at the Standard Candy Company in 1912 by Mr. Howard Camp bell. His delicious combination candy bar was the GooGoo Cluster.

2) Bristol, TN is known as the birthplace of country music.

3) When Tennessee first became a state the population was 77,000.

4) Coca-Cola was first bottle in 1899 at a plant in Chattanooga.

5) Jack Daniels is a Tennessee born brand of the world's bestselling whiskey derived from sour mash and then filtered through sugar maple charcoal in huge wooden vats prior to aging.

6) Tennessee is also home to the Tennessee Aquarium, the biggest fresh water aquarium in the world.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26