An American State in the S. of the Ohio basin, with the Virginias on its E. and Tennessee on its S. border and the Mississippi River on the W.; is watered by the Licking and Kentucky Rivers that cross the State from the Cumberland Mountains in the SE. to the Ohio, and the Tennessee River traverses the western corner; the climate is mild and healthy; much of the soil is extremely fertile, giving hemp and the largest tobacco crops in the Union; there are dense forests of virgin ash, walnut, and oak over two-thirds of the State, and on its pasturage the finest stock and horses are bred; coal is found in both the E. and the W., and iron is plentiful; the chief industries are whisky distilling, iron smelting and working; admitted to the Union in 1792, Kentucky was a slave-holding State, but did not secede in the Civil War; the capital is Frankfort, the largest city Louisville; the State University is at Lexington.