TN · Davidson County · 689,447 (2020) · 21st-largest US city · state capital
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville lies on the Cumberland River in the Central Basin of Middle Tennessee. It is the state capital and, since the 2020 count, the largest city in Tennessee and the twenty-first in the United States.
- State
- Tennessee
- County
- Davidson County (consolidated)
- Population (2020)
- 689,447
- Rank
- 21st in the US
- Coordinates
- 36.16°N, 86.78°W
- Time zone
- Central
- Metro area
- about 2.0 million
- State capital
- Yes – capital of Tennessee
Where Nashville is
Nashville is at 36.16°N, 86.78°W in Davidson County. City and county merged in 1963 into the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, one of the first consolidations in the US, so the city covers about 500 square miles. It sits at roughly 600 feet above sea level in the Nashville Basin, a bowl of fertile limestone lowland ringed by the higher Highland Rim, which the roads climb 20 to 30 miles out from downtown. The Cumberland River makes a series of tight bends through the city. Memphis is 210 miles southwest, Louisville 175 miles north and Chattanooga 135 miles southeast.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 689,447 residents, ranking Nashville 21st in the US, only 98 people behind Washington, DC. It overtook Memphis in this count to become the largest city in Tennessee. (The figure is for the "balance" of the metropolitan government, excluding a few small municipalities inside the county.) The Nashville–Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin metropolitan area spans 13 counties and has about 2.0 million people, having passed Memphis as the state's largest metro some years earlier. Nashville added about 88,000 residents between 2010 and 2020.
Geography
- Cumberland River — rises in the Appalachians of Kentucky and flows 690 miles to the Ohio; it is navigable through Nashville, which began as a river landing at French Lick in 1779.
- Nashville Basin — a limestone lowland with karst features, cedar glades and rolling pasture; the Highland Rim rises 300–400 feet above it on every side.
- Percy Priest and Old Hickory lakes — reservoirs on the Stones and Cumberland rivers at the east edge of the county.
- Harpeth River — a scenic tributary that winds through the hilly southwest of the county past Bellevue and Kingston Springs.
Nearest large cities
Nashville is a crossroads of Interstates 24, 40 and 65; Louisville, Memphis and Atlanta are each about three to four hours away. Distances are approximate road miles from the Capitol.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville | KY | 175 | N |
| Memphis | TN | 210 | SW |
| Atlanta | GA | 250 | SE |
| Indianapolis | IN | 290 | N |
| Charlotte | NC | 410 | E |
Nashville as state capital
Nashville became the permanent capital of Tennessee in 1843, after the seat had moved among Knoxville, Kingston, Murfreesboro and Nashville during the state's first half-century. The Capitol, designed by William Strickland and completed in 1859 on the highest hill downtown, is one of the oldest working statehouses in the country. Nashville is now both the capital and the largest city. See the Nashville capital page for the capitol and the comparison with Memphis.
Related maps
- Tennessee map — the state with its 95 counties.
- Nashville, state capital — capital facts and history.
- US cities map.
- Appalachian Mountains and Ohio River maps.
- Nearby cities: Memphis, Louisville, Atlanta.
- East South Central division · Central Time Zone (East Tennessee is on Eastern).