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Kentucky is home to the United State's most productive coal fields. It is also known for horse racing, bourbon distilleries, automobile manufacturing, tobacco crops and bluegrass music. The state has a diverse and unique culture.
Kentucky is probably most well-known as the site of the annual Kentucky Derby, the world's premier horse racing event which draws over a hundred thousand tourists to the state each year.
Kentucky also has a variety of outdoor attractions, everything from hiking to spelunking. Mammoth Cave National Park, the world's largest cave system with over 365 explored miles, is located in Kentucky. - Kentucky forms the borderland between the southern states and the Midwest states. It is bordered by two major rivers- the Mississippi on the west and the Ohio River to the north. To the east it is partially bordered by two smaller rivers, Tug Fork and Big Sandy River. Kentucky has one of the most complex and extensive river systems in the country with over 90,000 miles of streams and rivers. It has the two largest artificial lakes east of the Mississippi.
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Though used as a popular hunting ground by both the Shawnees and Cherokees, the land now known as Kentucky, had no major Native American settlements at the time when the first European settlers began to arrive. Because of this the land was easily bought from the Native Americans and was quickly settled. At this time Kentucky was part of Virginia.
Soon after the Revolutionary War ended Kentucky residents petitioned to separate from Virginia. It took ten constitutional conventions and eight years but eventually Kentucky was allowed to succeed from Virginia in 1792.
Because of its unique location, not quite one of the southern states, not quite a mid west state, Kentucky has often been a hotly contested battleground throughout United States history. It was the site of one of the last great battles of the Revolutionary War and was a border state during the Civil War. Though technically represented by a star on the Confederate flag during this conflict the state worked very hard to maintain neutral status since its population was fairly evenly split on the issue of succeeding from the Union. - Kentucky is the 37th largest state in America, in terms of land area and is the 26th largest in terms of population size. It covers about 40,434 square miles. Kentucky is home to more than 4 million people and this number is growing by about 4 percent a year.
- Kentucky was originally considered part of Virginia, its oldest settlement dates back to these times when in 1774 Harrodstown was established. In 1790 Kentucky succeeded from Virginia. Kentucky was admitted to the union as its own state on June 1, 1792, making it the fifteenth state to be admitted. The famous Kentucky Derby, held each year in Kentucky, is the oldest horse race in the country.
