The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more particularly within the East South Central region. Kentucky is among four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth; the others being Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. At first a part of Virginia State, in the year 1792 it became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th largest state in terms of total area, the 36th largest in land area, and ranks 26th in population.
Kentucky is referred to as the "Bluegrass State", a nickname based on the fact that bluegrass is present within a lot of the pastures all over the state, based on the fertile soil. It made possible the breeding of high-quality livestock, particularly pure-bred racing horses. It is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources, including the longest cave system within the world, Mammoth Cave National Park; the greatest length of navigable streams and waterways within the contiguous United States; and the two largest man-made lakes east of the Mississippi River. It is likewise home to the highest per capita number of deer and turkey in the United States, the biggest free-ranging elk herd east of Montana, and the country's most productive coalfield. Kentucky is also popular for horse racing, bourbon distilleries, automobile manufacturing, bluegrass music, tobacco and college basketball.
Kentucky was recognized early on for its great farming conditions. In the region in what is now Jessamine County in 1799, Kansas was the site of the very first commercial winery within the United States. With the high levels of calcium within the soil, the area quickly became a major horse breeding region, which later led to horse racing. Nowadays the state of Kentucky ranks 5th nationally in goat farming, 8th in beef cattle production, and 14th in corn production.
Today Kentucky's economy has expanded to importance in non agricultural terms as well, specially in energy fuel production, medical facilities and auto manufacturing. In 2010, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which is the only domestic location of low grade uranium enrichment, provides enriched uranium rods, while their is 107,336 tons of coal extracted from Kentucky's two coal fields. These sources of energy help to provide 4% of electricity produced in the US. It is the only domestic place of low grade uranium enrichment. Kentucky ranks 4th amongst U.S. states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. The Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR (2004-2009), Ford Super Duty trucks, Ford Explorer, Toyota Camry, Ford Excursion (2000-2005), Toyota Avalon, Toyota Solara, and Toyota Venza are assembled in the state of Kentucky.
For the year 2010, the state had a total gross state product of $163.3 billion, making the state the 28th best within the United States. The per-capita personal income ranks 43rd within the country at $28,513.