Tennessee River

Tennessee River
The Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga
Map of the Tennessee River watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky
Largest City	Huntsville
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of French Broad and Holston rivers at Knoxville
• coordinates	35°57′33″N 83°51′01″W / 35.95917°N 83.85028°W / 35.95917; -83.85028[1]
• elevation	813 ft (248 m)[3]
Mouth	Ohio River at Livingston / McCracken counties, near Paducah, Kentucky
• coordinates	37°04′02″N 88°33′53″W / 37.06722°N 88.56472°W / 37.06722; -88.56472[1]
• elevation	302 ft (92 m)[4]
Length	652 mi (1,049 km)[1]
Basin size	40,876 sq mi (105,870 km2)[2]
Discharge
• average	70,575 cu ft/s (1,998.5 m3/s)[2]
• maximum	500,000 cu ft/s (14,000 m3/s)

The Tennessee River is a 652 mi (1,049 km) long river located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of French Broad and Holston rivers at Knoxville, and drains into the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky. It is the largest tributary of the Ohio, ^[5] and drains a basin of 40,876 sq mi (105,870 km²).

Its tributary, the Little Tennessee River, flows into it from Western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia.^[1]