Tennessee (/ˌtɛnəˈsiː/ (About this soundlisten),[7][8] locally /ˈtɛnəsi/;[9] Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ, romanized:

Tanasi) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is only the 36th
largest but the 16th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee is bordered by eight states, with
Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and
Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the west, and Missouri to the northwest. The Appalachian
Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western
border. Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, with a 2017 population of 667,560 and a 2017
metro population of 1,903,045. Tennessee's second largest city is Memphis, which had a population of
652,236 in 2017.[10]

The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as
the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians.[11] What is now Tennessee was initially
part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union
as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the
Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. Occupied by Union forces from 1862, it
was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.[12]

Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state besides Virginia, and
more soldiers for the Union Army than the rest of the Confederacy combined.[12] Beginning during
Reconstruction, it had competitive party politics, but a Democratic takeover in the late 1880s resulted in
passage of disenfranchisement laws that excluded most blacks and many poor whites from voting. This
sharply reduced competition in politics in the state until after passage of civil rights legislation in the
mid-20th century.[13] In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more
diversified economy, aided by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority and, in the
early 1940s, the city of Oak Ridge. This city was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium
enrichment facilities, helping to build the world's first atomic bombs, two of which were dropped on
Imperial Japan near the end of World War II. After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became a
key center for nuclear research. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for the state.[14]

Tennessee's major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and
cattle are the state's primary agricultural products,[15] and major manufacturing exports include
chemicals, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment.[16] The Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, the nation's most visited national park, is located in the eastern part of the state, and a
section of the Appalachian Trail roughly follows the Tennessee–North Carolina border.[17] Other major
tourist attractions include the Tennessee Aquarium and Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel in Chattanooga;
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge; Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and Ober Gatlinburg in Gatlinburg; the
Parthenon, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville; the Jack
Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg; Elvis Presley's Graceland residence and tomb, the Memphis Zoo, the
National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis; and Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol.

New York City (NYC), often called the City of New York or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city
in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over about 302.6
square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States.[10]
Located at the southern tip of the U.S. state of New York, the city is the center of the New York
metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass.[11] With almost 20
million people in its metropolitan statistical area and approximately 23 million in its combined statistical
area, it is one of the world's most populous megacities. New York City has been described as the cultural,
financial, and media capital of the world, significantly influencing commerce,[12] entertainment,
research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of
the United Nations,[13] New York is an important center for international diplomacy.[14][15]

Situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City is composed of five boroughs, each
of which is a county of the State of New York.[16] The five boroughs–Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the
Bronx, and Staten Island–were consolidated into a single city in 1898.[17] The city and its metropolitan
area constitute the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. As many as 800
languages are spoken in New York,[18] making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. New
York is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the United States,[19] the largest foreign-
born population of any city in the world as of 2016.[20][21] As of 2019, the New York metropolitan area
is estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $2.0 trillion. If greater New York City
were a sovereign state, it would have the 12th highest GDP in the world.[22] New York is home to the
highest number of billionaires of any city in the world.