Information on Kentucky
The 'Bluegrass State' of Kentucky is names so due to the variety of grasses that produces a small blue flower in the spring and cover the majority of the landscape. The grass provides good grazing for Kentucky's most treasured possessions: the thoroughbred horses that are bred on the rolling hills of this western frontier area.
The predominantly rural state of Kentucky is best known for fried chicken, river steamboats, bourbon and horses, however it is also home to an array of natural and historical attractions. For instance, Thomas Edison lived in Louisville before he invented the light bulb, and the State contains the world's longest cave, Mammoth Cave, which is 350 miles (563km) long.
As one of the only four states in America that has been designated a commonwealth since 1792, Kentucky is the fifteenth state of the Union and is governed by the common consent of the inhabitants. The state is governed from the capital, Frankfort, on the Kentucky River in central Kentucky, but the largest city in the state, and its commercial capital, is Louisville, a lively town on the Ohio River.
Along the borders of Kentucky, seven other states can be reached, making it a central gateway to many other areas of America, via the Interstate highways or the Louisville International Airport. Kentucky is a popular tourist destination with its 50 state parks and hundreds of recreational, natural, historic and cultural attractions. Tourism is the State's third largest revenue-producing industry and visitors are enthusiastically welcomed.
