 |
|
 |
| |
The Commonwealth of Kentucky (IPA: /kənˈtʌki/) is a state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern states (in particular the Upland South), but it is sometimes included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwest.[ (1955) The North American Midwest: A Regional Geography. New York, New York: Wiley Publishers. ISBN 0901411931. ][Meyer, David R. (December 1989). "Midwestern Industrialization and the American Manufacturing Belt in the Nineteenth Century". The Journal of Economic History 49 (4): 921–937. ] Kentucky is one of four U.S. states to be officially known as a commonwealth. Originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 it became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th largest state in terms of land area, and ranks 26th in population.
Kentucky is known as the "Bluegrass State", a nickname based on the fact that bluegrass is present in many of the lawns and pastures throughout the state. It is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources, including the world\'s longest cave system, the greatest length of navigable waterways and streams in the Lower 48 states, and the two largest man-made lakes east of the Mississippi River. It is also home to the highest per capita number of deer and turkey in the United States, and the nation\'s most productive coalfield. Kentucky is also known for thoroughbred horses, horse racing, bourbon distilleries, bluegrass music, automobile manufacturing, tobacco, and college basketball.
Origin of name
 Narrow country roads bounded by stone and wood plank fences are a fixture in the Kentucky Bluegrass. The origin of Kentucky\'s name (variously spelled Cane-tuck-ee, Cantucky, Kain-tuck-ee, and Kentuckee before its modern spelling was accepted)[ (1987) "State Symbols", Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. ISBN 0403099811. ] has never been definitively identified, though some theories have been debunked. For example, Kentucky\'s name does not come from the combination of "cane" and "turkey"; and though it is the most popular belief, it is unlikely to mean "dark and bloody ground" because it isn\'t found in any known Indian language.[ (1992) "Place Names", in John E. Kleber (ed.): The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ] The most likely etymology is that it comes from an Iroquoian word for "meadow" or "prairie"[ (1987) "State Symbols", Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. ISBN 0403099811. ][Kentucky. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.] (c.f. Mohawk kenhtà :ke, Seneca këhta’keh).[Comments by Michael McCafferty on "Readers\' Feedback (page 4)". The KryssTal. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.] Other possibilities also exist: the suggestion of early Kentucky pioneer George Rogers Clark that the name means "the river of blood",[Kentucky. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.] or an Algonquian word for a river bottom.
Geography
- See also: List of Kentucky counties
 Kentucky  Kentucky\'s regions (click on image for color coding information.) Kentucky borders states of both the Midwest and the Southeast. West Virginia lies to the east, Virginia to the southeast, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to the west, Illinois and Indiana to the northwest, and Ohio to the north and northeast. Kentucky\'s northern border is formed by the Ohio River and its western border by the Mississippi River; however, the official border is based on the courses of the rivers as they existed when Kentucky became a state in 1792. In several places, the border does not follow the current course of the appropriate river. Northbound travelers on US 41 from Henderson, upon crossing the Ohio River, will find themselves still in Kentucky until they travel about a half-mile (800 m) farther north. A horse racing track, Ellis Park, is located in this small piece of Kentucky. Waterworks Road is part of the only land border between Indiana and Kentucky. [1]
Kentucky is the only U.S. state to have a non-contiguous part exist as an exclave surrounded by other states. Fulton County, in the far west corner of the state, 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.[Life on the Mississippi. Kentucky Educational Television (2002-01-28). Retrieved on 2006-11-29.]
Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the Cumberland Plateau in the east, the north-central Bluegrass region, the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau, the Western Coal Fields and the far-west Jackson Purchase. 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. Much of the outer Bluegrass is in the Eden Shale Hills area, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills.
Kentucky has 120 counties, third in the U.S. behind Texas\' 254 and Georgia\'s 159.[How Many Counties are in Your State?. Click and Learn. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. Virginia also has more county-level subdivisions than Kentucky; it has only 95 counties, but also has 39 independent cities, for a total of 134 county-level subdivisions.] The original motivation for having so many counties was to ensure that residents in the days of poor roads and horseback travel could make a round trip from their home to the county seat and back in a single day.[ (1992) "Counties", in Kleber, John E.: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813117720. ] Later, however, politics began to play a part, with citizens who disagreed with the present county government simply petitioning the state to create a new county. The 1891 Kentucky Constitution placed stricter limits on county creation, stipulating that a new county:
- must have a land area of at least 400 square miles (1,000 km²);
- must have a population of at least 12,000 people;
- must not by its creation reduce the land area of an existing county to less than 400 square miles (1,000 km²);
- must not by its creation reduce the population of an existing county to less than 12,000 people;
- must not create a county boundary line that passes within 10 miles (20 km) of an existing county seat.
These regulations have reined in the proliferation of counties in Kentucky. Since the 1891 Constitution, only McCreary County has been created.[ (1996) "Fiscal Court", County Government in Kentucky: Informational Bulletin No. 115. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. ] Because today\'s largest county by area, Pike County, is 788 square miles (2,041 km²), it is now impossible to create a new county from a single existing county under the current constitution. Any county created in this manner will by necessity either be smaller than 400 square miles (1,000 km²) or reduce the land area of the old county to less than 400 square miles (1,000 km²). It is still theoretically possible to form a new county from portions of more than one existing county (McCreary County was created from portions of three counties), but the area and boundary restrictions would make this extremely difficult.
Climate
Located within the southeastern interior portion of North America, Kentucky has a climate that can best be described as a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), or that all monthly average high temperatures are above freezing. Monthly average temperatures in Kentucky range from a summer daytime high of 87 °F (30.9 °C) to a winter low of 23 °F (-4.9 °C). The average precipitation is 46 inches (116.84 cm) a year.[The Geography of Kentucky - Climate. NetState.com (2006-06-15). Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Kentucky experiences all four seasons, usually with striking variations in the severity of summer and winter from year to year. In fact, it is not unusual to see marked changes in temperature and weather conditions within the same day, leading many locals to observe, "If you don\'t like the weather, just wait a few hours and it will change."[ (1987) "Geographical Configuration", Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. ISBN 0403099811. ]
Major weather events that have affected Kentucky include:
| Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Kentucky Cities
|
| City
| Jan
| Feb
| Mar
| Apr
| May
| Jun
| Jul
| Aug
| Sep
| Oct
| Nov
| Dec
|
| Lexington
| 40/24
| 45/28
| 55/36
| 65/44
| 74/54
| 82/62
| 86/66
| 85/65
| 78/58
| 67/46
| 54/37
| 44/28
|
| Louisville
| 41/25
| 47/28
| 57/37
| 67/46
| 75/56
| 83/65
| 87/70
| 86/68
| 79/61
| 68/48
| 56/39
| 45/30
|
| Paducah
| 42/24
| 48/28
| 58/37
| 68/46
| 77/55
| 85/64
| 89/68
| 87/65
| 81/57
| 71/45
| 57/36
| 46/28
|
| Pikeville
| 46/23
| 50/25
| 60/32
| 69/39
| 77/49
| 84/58
| 87/63
| 86/62
| 80/56
| 71/42
| 60/33
| 49/26
|
| Ashland
| 42/19
| 47/21
| 57/29
| 68/37
| 77/47
| 84/56
| 88/61
| 87/59
| 80/52
| 69/40
| 57/31
| 46/23
|
| [2]
|
Lakes and rivers
Kentucky’s 90,000 miles (140,000 km) of streams provides one of the most expansive and complex stream systems in the nation. Kentucky has both the largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi in water volume (Lake Cumberland) and surface area (Kentucky Lake). It is the only U.S. state to be bordered on three sides by rivers — the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and the Big Sandy River and Tug Fork to the east.[ (1992) "Rivers", in Kleber, John E.: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813117720. ] Its major internal rivers include the Kentucky River, Tennessee River, Cumberland River, Green River, and Licking River.
Though it has only three major natural lakes,[ (1992) "Lakes", in Kleber, John E.: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813117720. ] the state is home to many artificial lakes. Kentucky also has more navigable miles of water than any other state in the union, other than Alaska.[Corbin, Kentucky: A Fisherman\'s Paradise. Corbin, Kentucky Economic Development. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.]
Natural environment and conservation
Kentucky has an expansive park system which includes one national park, two National Recreation areas, two National Historic Parks, two national forests, 45 state parks, 37,696 acres (153 km²) of state forest, and 82 Wildlife Management Areas.
Kentucky has been part of two of the most successful wildlife reintroduction projects in United States history. In the winter of 1997, the state\'s eastern counties began to re-stock elk, which had been extinct from the area for over 150 years. As of 2006, the state\'s herd was estimated at 5,700 animals, the largest herd east of the Mississippi River.[Elk Restoration Update and Hunting Information. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.]
The state also stocked wild turkeys in the 1950s. Once extinct in the state, today Kentucky has more turkeys per capita than any other eastern state.
Top tourist attractions in Kentucky
Significant natural attractions
Bernheim Research Forest 1. University of Louisville. Retrieved on 4-30, 2007.
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville.
- Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area near Whitley City.
- Trail of Tears National Historic Trail also passes through Kentucky.
- Black Mountain, state\'s highest point.
- Bad Branch Falls State Nature Preserve, 2,639-acre (11 km²) 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,
[Bad Branch State Nature Preserve. Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] as well as a 60-foot (18 m) waterfall and a Kentucky Wild River.
- Jefferson Memorial Forest, located south of Louisville in the Knobs region, the largest municipally run forest in the United States.
[Jefferson Memorial Forest. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.]
- Green River Lake State Park, located in Taylor County.
- Lake Cumberland, 1,255 miles (2,020 km) of shoreline located in South Central Kentucky.
History
-
- See also: Kentucky in the American Civil War, Kentucky Historical Society, and Hatfield-McCoy feud
Although inhabited by Native Americans in prehistoric times, when explorers and settlers began entering Kentucky in the mid-1700s, there were no major Native American settlements in the region.[The Presence. History of Native Americans in Central Kentucky. Mercer County Online. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Instead, the country was used as hunting grounds by Shawnees from the north and Cherokees from the south. Much of what is now Kentucky was purchased from Native Americans in the treaties of Fort Stanwix (1768) and Sycamore Shoals (1775).[Skinner, Constance. The Dark and Bloody Hunting Ground. Pioneers of the Old Southwest. WebBooks.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Thereafter, Kentucky grew rapidly as the first settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains were founded, with settlers (primarily from Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania) entering the region either over land via Braddock Road and the Cumberland Gap, or by water down the Ohio River from points upstream, or up the Ohio River from the Mississippi. The first part to be settled was the northern part, along the Ohio River, with Lexington and Washington being the first major settlements. A detailed account of this can be read in the memoirs of Spencer Records. Next, the southern part of the state was settled, via the Wilderness Trail, which went along the Great Appalachian Valley and across the Cumberland Gap, blazed by Daniel Boone, traditionally considered one of the founders of the state.[>Book Description for The Life of Daniel Boone: The Founder of the State of Kentucky and Colonel\'s Boone Autobiography. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Shawnees north of the Ohio River, however, were unhappy about the settlement of Kentucky, and allied themselves with the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).[Dilger, Dr. Robert Jay. Monongalia County History. West Virginia University. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Kentucky was a battleground during the war; the Battle of Blue Licks, one of the last major battles of the Revolution, was fought in Kentucky.[The Battle of Blue Licks. EarlyAmerica.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.]
After the American Revolution, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County.[About Kentucky. Ezilon Search. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Eventually, the residents of Kentucky County petitioned for a separation from Virginia. Ten constitutional conventions were held in the Constitution Square Courthouse in 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.[Constitution Square State Historic Site. Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.]
Kentucky was a border state during the American Civil War.[Border States in the Civil War. CivilWarHome.com (2002-02-15). Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Although frequently described as never having seceded, a group of Kentucky soldiers stationed at Russellville did pass an Ordinance of Secession under the moniker "Convention of the People of Kentucky" on November 20, 1861,[Ordinances of Secession. Historical Text Archive. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] establishing a Confederate government for the state with its capital in Bowling Green.[Civil War Sites - Bowling Green, KY. WMTH Corporation. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Though Kentucky was represented by the central star on the Confederate battle flag.[Irby, Jr., Richard E.. A Concise History of the Flags of the Confederate States of America and the Sovereign State of Georgia. About North Georgia. Golden Ink. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] the legitimacy of the Russellville Convention may well be questioned. Only a year earlier, philosopher Karl Marx wrote in a letter to Friedrich Engels that the result of a vote deciding how Kentucky would be represented at a convention of the border states was "100,000 for the Union ticket, only a few thousand for secession."[Marx, Karl (1861-07-05). Marx To Engels In Manchester. Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.] Kentucky officially remained "neutral" throughout the war due to Union sympathies of many of the Commonwealth\'s citizens. Even today, however, Confederate Memorial Day is observed by some in Kentucky on Jefferson Davis\' birthday, June 3.[KRS 2.110 Public Holidays (PDF). Kentucky General Assembly. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.]
On January 30, 1900, Governor William Goebel, flanked by two bodyguards, was mortally wounded by an assailant while walking to the State Capitol in downtown Frankfort. Goebel was in the process of contesting the election of 1899, initially assumed to be won by William S. Taylor. For several months, J. C. W. Beckham, Goebel\'s running mate, and Taylor fought over who was the real governor until the Supreme Court of the United States decided in May that Beckham was the rightful governor. Taylor fled to Indiana and was later indicted as a co-conspirator in Goebel\'s assassination. Goebel remains the only governor of a U.S. state to have been assassinated while in office.[The Old State Capitol. Kentucky Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.]
Law and government
Government
Kentucky is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (The others are Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia). Kentucky holds elections for these offices every 4 years in the years preceding Presidential election years. Thus, the last year when Kentucky elected a Governor was 2007; the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2011, with future gubernatorial elections to take place in 2015, 2019, 2023, etc.
State government
Kentucky\'s legislative branch consists of a bicameral body known as the Kentucky General Assembly. The Senate is considered the upper house. It has 38 members, and is led by the President of the Senate, currently Republican David L. Williams. The House of Representatives has 100 members, and is led by the Speaker of the House, currently Democrat Jody Richards.
The executive branch is headed by the governor and lieutenant governor. Under the current Kentucky Constitution, the lieutenant governor assumes the duties of the governor only if the governor is incapacitated. (Prior to 1992, the lieutenant governor assumed power any time the governor was out of the state.) The governor and lieutenant governor usually run on a single ticket (also per a 1992 constitutional amendment), and are elected to four-year terms. Currently, the governor and lieutenant governor are Democrats Steve Beshear and Daniel Mongiardo.
The judicial branch of Kentucky is made up of courts of limited jurisdiction called District Courts; courts of general jurisdiction called Circuit Courts; an intermediate appellate court, the Kentucky Court of Appeals; and a court of last resort, the Kentucky Supreme Court. Unlike federal judges, who are usually appointed, justices serving on Kentucky state courts are chosen by the state\'s populace in non-partisan elections.
The state\'s chief prosecutor, law enforcement officer, and law officer is the attorney general. The attorney general is elected to a four-year term and may serve two consecutive terms under the current Kentucky Constitution. The current Kentucky attorney general is Democrat Jack Conway.
Federal representation
Kentucky\'s two Senators are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning, both Republicans. The state is divided into six Congressional Districts, represented by Republicans Ed Whitfield (1st), Ron Lewis (2nd), Geoff Davis (4th), and Hal Rogers (5th), and Democrats John Yarmuth (3rd) and Ben Chandler (6th).
Judicially, Kentucky is split into two Federal court districts: the Kentucky Eastern District and the Kentucky Western District. Appeals are heard in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Political leanings
Where politics are concerned, Kentucky historically has been very hard fought and leaned slightly toward the Democratic Party, although it was never included among the "Solid South." In 2006, 57.05% of the state\'s voters were officially registered as Democrats, 36.55% registered Republican, and 6.39% registered with some other political party.[2006 General Election Registration Figures Set. Kentucky Secretary of State (2006-10-19). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.]
Kentucky has voted Republican in five of the last seven presidential elections but has supported the Democratic candidates of the South. The Commonwealth supported Democrats Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Bush won the state\'s 8 electoral votes overwhelmingly in 2004 by a margin of 20 percentage points and 59.6% of the vote.[Election Results for Kentucky. CNN. Retrieved on ] | | | | |
