KENTUCKY

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is known as "The Bluegrass State" for the lush grass that carpets its lawns, meadows and pastures, and the thick, green turf is a perfect way to symbolize the state’s bountiful natural resources. Kentucky’s natural geography ranges from rolling green meadows to craggy ridges of the Appalachian Mountains to rich riparian areas. Underground lies the Mammoth Cave System, the longest cave system in the world. Kentucky is the only state to be bordered by rivers on three sides and it has over 900 miles of streams! Interestingly, a very small part of Kentucky is completely surrounded by other states and does not touch the rest of Kentucky at all! The Kentucky Bend was created by an earthquakes and is most easily accessible from Tennessee.

Nestled in the heart of coal country, the Eastern Kentucky Coal Fields are among the most productive in the nation. However, coal isn’t Kentucky’s economic core. The most famous agricultural output of Kentucky is its horses, but the state also produces cattle, dairy products, soybeans, hogs and corn. The industrial sector of Kentucky’s economy includes industrial equipment manufacture and automobile manufacture. The Chevy Corvette; Ford’s Expedition, Explorer and F-Series trucks; and Toyota’s Camry, Avalon and Sienna are all assembled in Kentucky. The state ranks 8^th in the U.S. for automobile manufacture.

Large swaths of eastern and central Kentucky lie in what is called the "Zone of Distress." The people in this primarily rural area have lower life expectancies than the U.S. average, and household incomes are often half the national average. Not surprisingly, these are coal mining and farming areas. Over half of Kentucky’s population and most of its wealth reside outside these areas in the northern part of the state in what is known as the "Golden Triangle." Framed by the capital city of Frankfurt and the two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington, the Golden Triangle represents a stark departure from the poverty and hardship of the rest of the state. Kentucky’s famed horse breeders are in this area as are the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

While the wealthier parts of Kentucky have given the United States some great traditions such as the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky style BBQ, the rural parts are not without important traditions of their own. Bluegrass music has its roots in the Appalachian coal mining region, and Kentucky bourbon was born in the east-central part of the state. There are also several Scottish festivals and traditions owing to the Scotch ancestry of many of the early settlers of Appalachia.