There are a handful of basic facts about Knoxville that most locals know.
For example: Knoxville is the home of the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee, the site of the 1982 World’s Fair, the headquarters for the Tennessee Valley Authority and the first state capital of Tennessee. Knoxville is also the largest city in East Tennessee and the third-largest in the state (after Nashville and Memphis), and the city’s nicknames include K-town, Knox Vegas, Marble City and Scruffy City.
But here are facts about Knoxville’s place in the world that might surprise many locals.
Name it
Knoxville is the largest city in the United States with a silent first letter. It’s also the second-largest metropolitan area that starts with a “K” (after Kansas City) and the second-largest metro area with an “X” in its name (second to Phoenix).
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
There are at least 7 other Knoxvilles in the United States. The largest of those, in Iowa, has an estimated population of just more than 7,000.
Metro Knoxville vs. Knoxville proper
The United States Census Bureau estimated in 2016 that the population of the 13-county Knoxville metropolitan area was 868,546, which ranked it as the No. 64 most populated U.S. metro area. However, the city population for 2016 was estimated at 186,239, which ranked it as No. 129 among U.S. city populations.
That means that for each person who lives within the city limits, there are more than three who live in the metro area outside of the city.
High in the valley
Knoxville may be nestled in the Tennessee Valley, but its elevation of 886 feet is higher than that of Chattanooga (676 feet), Nashville (567) and Memphis (337). However, other cities in the region are higher than Knoxville, including Atlanta (1050 feet), Lexington, Ky., (978) and Asheville, N.C., (2134).
National positioning
Knoxville is south of Nashville and east of Atlantaand Murphy, N.C. (yes, Knoxville is east of a part of North Carolina).
Although Knoxville and Memphis are both in Tennessee, they are hardly neighbors. You could drive to Atlanta and most of the way back in the time it takes to drive to Memphis from Knoxville. Other cities that are closer to Knoxville than Memphis include Indianapolis,Columbus, Ohio,and Charleston, S.C.
Speaking of Charleston … Although many Knoxvillians go to Florida and North Carolina when they want a beach vacation, the closest sea beaches to Knoxville are near Charleston, including Folly Beach and Isle of Palms, which are 382 and 385 miles away, respectively.
Meanwhile, Knoxville is within an 8-hour drive of much of the South, the East Coast and the Midwest, including cities such as Washington, D.C., Jacksonville, Detroit and Chicago. New Orleans is less than 9 hours away, and Orlando and Philadelphia are less than 10.
Global positioning
Knoxville’s latitude is 35.9606 degrees North, and the city's longitude is 83.9207 degrees West.
If you were to travel the world following a straight path along Knoxville’s latitude, you’d sail from Nags Head, N.C., across the Atlantic Ocean and right through the strait of Gibraltar (the narrow, 9-mile wide strait that separates Spain and Morocco) and into the Mediterranean Sea without making landfall. By comparison, those following the Nashville latitude would run aground in Europe (Spain), and those following the Memphis and Chattanooga latitudes would run aground in Africa (Morocco).
Although Knoxville lies completely south of the European continent, its latitude is close to that of Aleppo, Syria, and Tehran, Iran. Knoxville’s latitude is also in close proximity to Big Sur, California, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon National Park.
Longitude-wise, Knoxville is west of the entire continent of South America and east of Mexico, but lines up very near San Jose, Costa Rica, and the western tip of Cuba.
The farthest city in the world from Knoxville is Perth, Australia - they’re 11,265 miles apart - and the farthest point on Earth from Knoxville is in the Indian Ocean west of Australia.
So if you’ve got to get away from it all, you know where to go.
