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East Tennessee

East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the State of Tennessee. Unlike the names given to regions or portions of many U.S. States, the term East Tennessee can be precisely defined. It is the portion of the state located within the Eastern Time Zone and four counties in the Central Time Zone, namely Bledsoe, Cumberland, Marion, and Sequatchie Counties. East Tennessee is noted for its mountains, particularly the Great Smoky Mountains portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but in fact has many and varied landforms.

Major Cities of East Tennessee

The major cities of East Tennessee are Knoxville and Chattanooga. Other important cities include the "Tri-Cities" of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport located in the extreme northeastern most part of the state, an area previously and traditionally referred to as Upper East Tennessee, although today the term Northeast Tennessee is preferred.

Higher Education in East Tennessee

East Tennessee is noted for the presence of many institutions of higher learning. The region's major public universities are the Knoxville and Chattanooga campuses of the University of Tennessee and East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. Private four-year institutions include Bryan College, Carson-Newman College, King College, Lee University, Lincoln Memorial University, Maryville College, Milligan College, Tennessee Wesleyan College, and Tusculum College, as well as several bible colleges. Several public community colleges and vocational/technical schools also are located in the region.

Industry in East Tennessee

Knoxville and Chattanooga also contain major operations of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The U.S. nuclear weapons program was largely developed during World War II at Oak Ridge. Kingsport is the home of Tennessee's largest single industrial employer, Eastman Chemical Company (approximately 7,500 employees in 2006), formerly the chemical division of Kodak. The Aluminum Company of America, Alcoa, is located in Blount County, Tennessee. Initially attracted to the area by its potential for low-cost hydroelectric development, Alcoa still maintains a major operation in its namesake town of Alcoa, just south of Knoxville. To the Southeast of Knoxville are Seymour and Sevierville. Sevier County is the birthplace of Dolly Parton whose well known amusement park, Dollywood, can be found in Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is a popular tourist area with plenty of shopping, skiing, and hotels near the Great Smoky Mountains.

Data gathered from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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