Kentucky
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| State nickname: Bluegrass State | |||||
Other U.S. States | |||||
| Capital | Frankfort | ||||
| Largest City | Louisville | ||||
| Area - Total - Land - Water - % water | Ranked 37th
104,749 kmÃÂò 102,989 kmÃÂò 1,760 kmÃÂò 1.7% | ||||
| Population
- Total (2000) - Density | Ranked 25th
4,041,769 39/kmÃÂò | ||||
| 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 | ||||
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Latitude
Longitude |
36°30'N to 39°9'N
81°58'W to 89°34'W | ||||
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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 15th 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.
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.
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.
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.
History
Law and Government
Geography
See: List of Kentucky countiesSignificant Natural Attractions
Economy
The total gross state product for 1999 was $113 billion, placing Kentucky 26th in the nation. Its Per Capita Personal Income is $24,294, 40th in the nation. Kentucky's agricultural outputs are horses, cattle, tobacco,dairy products, hogs, soybeans, and corn. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, chemical products, electric equipment, machinery, food processing, tobacco products, coal, and tourism.
| Population > 100,000 (urbanized areas) | Population > 10,000 (urbanized areas) | Important suburbs and small towns |
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Professional Sports Teams
The Minor League baseball teams are:
The Minor League hockey teams are:
The National Indoor Football League teams are:
Boxer/activist Muhammad Ali, KFC founder Col. Harland David Sanders, actor George Clooney, actress Rosemary Clooney (George's aunt), TV reporter Diane Sawyer, explorer Daniel Boone, actor Johnny Depp, bluegrass singer Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, country/bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs, country singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer Dwight Yoakam, mother-daughter country singers Naomi and Wynonna Judd, actress Ashley Judd (Wynonna's sister), director D.W. Griffith, pop singers The Everly Brothers, jazz legend Lionel Hampton, contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman, actor Victor Mature, actor Lee Majors, bluegrass singer Bill Monroe, country singer Loretta Lynn, country singer Crystal Gayle (Loretta Lynn's sister), pop singer Joan Osborne, actress Annie Potts, "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt, actor Harry Dean Stanton, director Gus Van Sant, actor/comedian Jim Varney "Ernest 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, Supreme Court Justice 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, NASCAR drivers Darrell and Michael Waltrip
Miscellaneous Information
Famous Kentuckians
External links
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Insular areas
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"Kentucky" is also a common Caribbean nickname for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).