Global InformationGeography of Kentucky information
Kentucky is situated in the Upland South region of the United States.[1] A significant portion of eastern Kentucky is part of Appalachia.
Kentucky borders seven states, from the Midwest and the Southeast. West Virginia lies to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to the west, Illinois to the northwest, and Indiana and Ohio to the north. Only Missouri and Tennessee, both of which border eight states, touch more.
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. For instance, northbound travelers on U.S. 41 from Henderson, after crossing the Ohio River, will be in Kentucky for about two miles (3.2 km). Ellis Park, a thoroughbred racetrack, is located in this small piece of Kentucky. Waterworks Road is part of the only land border between Indiana and Kentucky.[2]
Kentucky has a non-contiguous part known as Kentucky Bend, at the far west corner of the state. It exists as an exclave surrounded completely by Missouri and Tennessee, and is included in the boundaries of Fulton County. Road access to this small part of Kentucky on the Mississippi River (populated by 18 people as of 2010[update])[3] requires a trip through Tennessee.
The epicenter of the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes was near this area, causing the Mississippi River to flow backwards in some places. Though the series of quakes changed the area geologically and affected the small number of inhabitants of the area at the time, the Kentucky Bend is the result of a surveying error, not the New Madrid earthquake.[4]
- ^ "Census Regions and Divisions of the United States" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. United States Census Bureau. June 17, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ "Map of [1494–1557] Waterworks Rd Evansville, IN". Retrieved January 1, 2009.
- ^ "Exclaves". Virginia Quarterly Review. 89 (4): 22–23. October 1, 2013. ISSN 0042-675X.
- ^ "Life on the Mississippi". Kentucky Educational Television. January 28, 2002. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved November 29, 2006.