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Kentucky

*** Shopping-Tip: Kentucky
{{Otheruses1|the U.S. State}} {{US state | Name = Kentucky | Fullname = Commonwealth of Kentucky| Flag = Kentucky state flag.png | Flaglink = Flag of Kentucky | Seal = Kentuckystateseal.jpg | Map = Map_of_USA_highlighting_Kentucky.png | Nickname = Bluegrass State | Capital = Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort | OfficialLang = English language English | LargestCity = Louisville, Kentucky Louisville | Governor = Ernie Fletcher (R)| Senators = Mitch McConnell (R) Jim Bunning (R) | PostalAbbreviation = KY | AreaRank = 37th | TotalArea = 104,749 | LandArea = 102,989 | WaterArea = 1,760 | PCWater = 1.7 | PopRank = 25th | 2000Pop = 4,041,769 | DensityRank = 23rd | 2000Density = 39.28 | AdmittanceOrder = 15th | AdmittanceDate = June 1, 1792 | TimeZone = Eastern Standard Time Zone Eastern: Coordinated Universal Time UTC-5/Daylight saving time DST-4 (eastern)
Central Standard Time Zone Central: UTC-6/Daylight saving time DST-5 (western) | Latitude = 36Â°30'N to 39Â°9'N | Longitude = 81Â°58'W to 89Â°34'W | Width = 225 | Length = 610 | HighestElev = 1263 | MeanElev = 230 | LowestElev = 78 | ISOCode = US-KY | Website = www.kentucky.gov }} The '''Commonwealth of Kentucky''' is the 15th state of the United States United States of America.

Geography
''See also: List of Kentucky counties'' Image:National-atlas-kentucky.png thumb|left|Kentucky Kentucky, affectionately known as ''The Bluegrass State'', borders states of both the Midwest and the Southeast. West Virginia and Virginia lie to the east; Tennessee to the south; Missouri to the west; and Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north. The commonwealth's northern border is formed by the Ohio River, and the western border is formed by the Mississippi River. Other major rivers in Kentucky include the Kentucky River, Tennessee River, the Cumberland River, the Green River (Kentucky) Green River, and the Licking River. Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau in the southeast, the north-central Bluegrass region Bluegrass Region, the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau, also sometimes termed "Pennyrile" with cities such as Elizabethtown and Bowling Green, the western coal-fields area, and the far-west Jackson Purchase. Image:Bluegrass stonewall 8097.JPG thumb|right|Rural Bluegrass scene Kentucky is the only U.S. state to have a non-contiguous part exist as an enclave of another state. Far western Kentucky includes a small part of land, Kentucky Bend, on the Mississippi River bordered by Missouri and accessible via Tennessee, created by the New Madrid Earthquake. The Bluegrass region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass - the encircling 90 miles (145 km) around Lexington - and the Outer Bluegrass, the region that contains most of the Northern portion of the state, above the Knobs.

Significant natural attractions
*Cumberland Gap, chief passageway through the Appalachian Mountains in early American history. *Cumberland Falls State Park, where a "moonbow moon-bow" may be seen in the mists of the falls. *Mammoth Cave National Park, featuring tours of the world's longest cave. *Red River Gorge Geological Area, part of the Daniel Boone National Forest. *Land Between the Lakes, a National Recreation Area managed by the United States Forest Service. *Bernheim Forest a 14,000 acre (57 kmÂ²) arboretum, forest, and nature preserve located in Clermont, Kentucky Clermont. *Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville, Kentucky Hodgenville *Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area near Whitley City, Kentucky Whitley City *Trail of Tears National Historic Trail also passes through Kentucky. *Black Mountain, state's highest point. Runs along the border of Harlan County, Kentucky Harlan and Letcher County, Kentucky Letcher counties. *Bad Branch Falls State Nature Preserve, 2,639-acre state nature preserve on southern slope of Pine Mountain in Letcher County. Includes one of the largest concentrations of rare and endangered species in the state, as well as a 60-foot waterfall and a Kentucky Wild River.

History
Image:Lincoln and Davis Statue.jpg Abraham Lincoln.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|Both [[Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky..html" title="Meaning of right|Both [[Abraham Lincoln">thumb|right|Both [[Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky.">right|Both [[Abraham Lincoln">thumb|right|Both [[Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky. Kentucky was used as sacred hunting grounds by roving bands of Native Americans (particularly the Shawnee); however as early as 1750, there were no known permanent Native settlements. After 1770, settlers from Virginia and North Carolina came through the Cumberland Gap, and Kentucky grew rapidly as the first settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains were founded. After the American Revolution, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County. Eventually, the residents of Kentucky County petitioned for a separation from Virginia. Ten constitutional conventions were held in the Constitution Square Courthouse in Danville, Kentucky Danville between 1784 and 1792. In 1790, Kentucky's delegates accepted Virginia's terms of separation, and a state constitution was drafted at the final convention in April 1792. On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state to be admitted to the union and Isaac Shelby, a military veteran from Virginia, was elected the first Governor of the Commonwealth Of Kentucky. While remaining loyal to the Union, Kentucky was a Border states (Civil War) border state during the American Civil War. The state did not secede, and was officially neutral until a new legislature took office on August 5, 1861 with strong Union sympathies. The Confederates entered the state during the "Kentucky Campaign" of Generals Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith in 1862. Bragg's retreat following the Battle of Perryville left the state under the control of the Union Army for the remainder of the war. The state then abandoned neutrality, and publicly sided with the Union. Southern sympathizers attempted to establish an alternative state government with the goal of secession but failed to displace the legitimate government in Frankfort.

Demographics
{| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan=2 bgcolor="#ccccff" align="center"| Historical populations |- ! align="center"| Census
year !! align="right"| Population |- | colspan=2|