Kentucky

Commonwealth of Kentucky

(In Detail) (Full size)
State nickname: Bluegrass State
Other U.S. States
Capital	Frankfort
Largest City	Louisville
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water  - % water	Ranked 37th 104,749 km² 102,989 km² 1,760 km² 1.7%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 25th 4,041,769 39/km²
Admittance into Union  - Order  - Date	15th June 1, 1792
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4 Central: UTC-6/-5 eastern counties in Eastern Timezone, western counties in Central Timezone
Latitude Longitude	36°30'N to 39°9'N 81°58'W to 89°34'W
Width Length Elevation  -Highest  -Mean  -Lowest	225 km 610 km   1,262 meters 230 meters 78 meters
ISO 3166-2:	US-KY

Kentucky is a southern state of The United States Of America and was the 15^th state admitted to the Union.

Kentucky and its residents are probably most well known for thoroughbred horses and racing, local whiskey distilleries and unbridled fanaticism for basketball. The two principal rivals in the state are the University of Kentucky (blue, Wildcats) and the University of Louisville (red, Cardinals).

Several US Navy ships have been named USS Kentucky in honor of the state.

History

Kentucky is one of four states to call itself a commonwealth. At one point in time, Kentucky was a county of Virginia. Ten constitutional conventions took place at the courthouse of Constitution Square in Danville, Kentucky between 1784-1792. In 1790, Kentucky delegates accepted Virginia's terms for separation, and the state constitution was drafted at the final convention in April 1792. On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state in the union and Isaac Shelby, a Revolutionary War hero, was named the first Governor of the Commonwealth Of Kentucky.

On May 20, 1861 during the American Civil War, Kentucky proclaimed its neutrality in the conflict but was forced to take the side of the Union on September 3 when Confederate forces under General Leonidas Polk invaded.

Law and Government

The capital of Kentucky is Frankfort and its governor is Ernie Fletcher (Republican). Kentucky's two U.S. senators are Jim Bunning (Republican) and Mitch McConnell (Republican). The Kentucky Constitution provides for three branches of government: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. Kentucky's General Assembly has two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.See List of Kentucky Governors.

Geography

Kentucky, also known as The Bluegrass State, borders the Midwest and Deep South. It touches West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, and is bordered on the north by the Ohio River. There are five main regions, the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau in the southeast, the north-central Bluegrass Region, the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau, also sometimes termed "Pennyrile", the western coal-fields area, and the far-west Jackson Purchase.

The largest cities in Kentucky in terms of geographic area are the two metro city/counties of Lexington and Louisville, although Louisville has a much larger metropolitan population. Northern Kentucky, an assemblage of smaller cities across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, also has a large metropolitan population.

Significant Natural Attractions

Economy

Demographics

Important Cities and Towns

Education

Colleges and Universities

Community Colleges

Professional Sports Teams

The Minor League hockey teams are:

• Lexington Men O'War
• Louisville Panthers

The National Indoor Football League teams are:

• Lexington Horsemen

Miscellaneous Information

• State Bird: Cardinal.
• State Flower: Goldenrod.
• State Tree: Tuliptree (formerly the Kentucky coffeetree).
• State Horse: Thoroughbred.
• State Fish: Kentucky Bass.
• State Wild Animal: Grey Squirrel.
• State Butterfly: Viceroy Butterfly.
• State Gemstone: Fresh Water Pearl.
• State Fossil: Brachiopod.

• State Song: "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Collins Foster-1853
• State Bluegrass Song: "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe-1947
• State Motto: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall"

Famous Kentuckians

Boxer/activist Muhammad Ali, KFC founder Col. Harland David Sanders, actor George Clooney, actress Rosemary Clooney, TV reporter Diane Sawyer, explorer Daniel Boone, actor Johnny Depp, bluegrass singer Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer Dwight Yoakam, actress Ashley Judd, director D.W. Griffith, pop singers The Everly Brothers, country singer Crystal Gayle, jazz legend Lionel Hampton, actor Victor Mature, actor Lee Majors, bluegrass singer Bill Monroe, country singer Loretta Lynn, pop singer Joan Osborne, actress Annie Potts, "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt, actor Harry Dean Stanton, director Gus Van Sant, actor/comedian Jim Varney "Earnest P. Worrell", TV host Chuck Woolery, singers Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys, actor Ned Beatty, director John Carpenter, comedian Foster Brooks, steamboat inventor John Fitch, traffic light inventor Garrett Morgan, Louis Brandeis, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, US President Abraham Lincoln, train engineer John Luther Jones "Casey Jones", US Vice President Adlai Stevenson, US President Zachary Taylor, football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, first woman to row across the Atlantic solo Tori Murden-McClure, Olympic swimmer Mary Meagher, Hall of Fame shortstop Pee Wee Reese, writer Sue Grafton, NPR reporter Bob Edwards, food critic Duncan Hines, Donald Duck artist Don Rosa, writer Hunter S. Thompson, writer Robert Penn Warren, explorer Floyd Collins, frontiersman Kit Carson, "60 Minutes" tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Weigand

External links

• http://kentucky.gov
• http://www.kentuckytourism.com
• http://www.louisville.cc

Referenced By