State of the United States

Tennessee

Tennessee is a state of the United States. It covers about 109,000 km² (42,200 mi²), the 35th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Guatemala. About 6.9 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).

In area1.00×the size ofGuatemala109,000 km² In people1.01×as many people asLaos6.9 million

200 km

Tennessee
Guatemala

Facts

Area, measured	109,000 km²42,200 mi²
Official area	109,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
Share of the United States	1.2%of the area of the 51 states and districts
Rank by area	35th of 51states and districts of the United States
Population	6.9 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit
Density	63 people per km²
Capital	Nashville
Latitude range	35°N to 37°N
Type	StateUS-TN

What the numbers say about Tennessee

Tennessee covers 1.2% of the area of the United States and ranks 16th of 51 by population, against 35th by area.
It would take 86.6 states and districts the size of Tennessee to cover the United States.
Tennessee holds 2.1% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 48.
The largest, Alaska, is 13.8× the size of Tennessee; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 0.1% of it.
Closest in size within the United States: Kentucky (105,000 km², 1.05×) and Virginia (104,000 km², 1.05×).
Counted as a country, Tennessee would be larger than 134 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 106th by area, between Cuba (110,000 km²) and Guatemala (109,000 km²).
With 6.9 million people it would rank 106th of 238 by population.
Tennessee has 63 people per km², about the density of Yemen, which has 62 per km².
That makes Tennessee the 20th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 1.81× the average for the United States (35 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 36°N is drawn about 1.5× too large in area, so Tennessee looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Tennessee stretches about 189 km north to south and 778 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 109,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 109,000 km², to within 2%.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Where Tennessee ranks

Tennessee is the 35th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.

Ranked within the United States

All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries

Compare Tennessee

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method