Memphis

Sister cities

• Varna
• Mazkeret Batya
• Kanifing District
• Kaolack

History

Occupying a substantial bluff rising from the Mississippi River, the site of Memphis has been a natural location for human settlement by varying indigenous cultures over thousands of years. In the first millennium A.D. people of the Mississippian culture were prominent; the culture influenced a network of communities throughout the Mississippi River Valley and its tributaries. The hierarchical societies built complexes with large earthwork ceremonial and burial mounds as expressions of their sophisticated culture. The Chickasaw people, believed to be their descendants, later inhabited this site and a large territory in the Southeast. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto encountered the historic Chickasaw in this area in the 16th century, followed in the 17th century by French explorers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle,. J. D. L. Holmes, writing in Hudson's Four Centuries of Southern Indians (2007), notes that this site was a third strategic point in the late 18th century through which European powers could control United States encroachment beyond the Appalachians and their interference with Indian matters—after Fort Nogales (present-day Vicksburg) and Fort Confederación (present-day Epes, Alabama): "Chickasaw Bluffs, located on the Mississippi River at the present-day location of Memphis. Spain and the United States vied for control of this site, which was a favorite of the Chickasaws." In 1795 the Spanish Governor-General of Louisiana, Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet, sent his lieutenant governor, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, to negotiate and secure consent from the local Chickasaw so that a Spanish fort could be erected on the bluff; Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas was the result. Holmes notes that consent was reached despite opposition from…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.76%, is water. Downtown Memphis rises from a bluff along the Mississippi River. The city and metro area spread out through suburbanization, and encompass southwest Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. Several large parks were founded in the city in the early 20th century, notably Overton Park in Midtown and the Shelby Farms. The city is a national transportation hub and Mississippi River crossing for Interstate 40, (east-west), Interstate 55 (north-south), barge traffic, Memphis International Airport (FedEx's "SuperHub" facility) and numerous freight railroads that serve the city. The Memphis Riverfront stretches along the Mississippi River from the Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in the north to the T. O. Fuller State Park in the south. The River Walk is a park system that connects downtown Memphis from Mississippi River Greenbelt Park in the north to Tom Lee Park in the south. In recent years, the city has decided to deannex some of its territory. It has gone through a three-phase process to deannex five areas within the city limits, returning them to unincorporated Shelby County. The first phase of deannexation occurred on January 1, 2020, when the Eads and River Bottoms areas returned to county jurisdiction. As a result, the Shelby County Sheriff is responsible for patrolling these former parts of Memphis. The first phase of the deannexation process reduced the city's size by 5% and its population by 0.03%. The Byhalia Pipeline proposed by Plains All American Pipeline and Valero Energy, and set to begin construction in 2020, was the subject of massive public and legal opposition to the project over concerns regarding possible…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,900
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  16,723
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,626
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  16,590
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,382
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  13,939
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,725
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,337

Largest nearby schools

• Bartlett High School
  High · Bartlett · 2,851 students · 18.5:1 ratio
• White Station High
  High · Memphis · 1,840 students · 17:1 ratio
• Germantown High
  High · Germantown · 1,806 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Whitehaven High
  High · Memphis · 1,587 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• Dexter School
  Elementary · Cordova · 1,513 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• Overton High
  High · Memphis · 1,422 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Snowden Elementary/Middle
  Elementary · Memphis · 1,373 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Central High
  High · Memphis · 1,312 students · 21.2:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.06 — 2025-08-01
  3 km SW of Blytheville, Arkansas
• M 2.56 — 2025-08-01
  3 km SW of Blytheville, Arkansas
• M 2.75 — 2024-11-16
  8 km W of Henning, Tennessee
• M 2.71 — 2024-05-30
  7 km NNE of Blytheville, Arkansas
• M 2.78 — 2024-04-17
  5 km W of Dell, Arkansas
• M 3.8 — 2023-12-27
  6 km NE of Etowah, Arkansas