Kentucky

Kentucky is located in the central United States. It is bounded by the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers on the west, the Ohio River on the north, the Big Sandy River, Pine Mountain, and Cumberland Mountain on the east, and the state of Tennessee on the south.

Originally part of Virginia, the land that is now Kentucky was formed into Kentucky county, Virginia in 1776. Four years later it was divided into the Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties of Virginia. It became the fifteenth of the United States in 1792. The name Kentucky is of Native American origin and as been attributed to several languages with several possible meanings from "land of tomorrow" to "cane and turkey lands" to "meadow lands." This last may come from the Iroquois name for the Shawnee town Eskippathiki. The name Kentucky referred originally to the Kentucky River and from that came the name of the region.

The use of "commonwealth" in the name Commonwealth of Kentucky doesn't have any particular significance — it means the same thing as "state" and was commonly used in the eighteenth century. Kentucky probably used it since it was formed from Virginia, which had used it earlier. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts also use commonwealth. The colonial use of commonwealth probably derives from the Commonwealth period in England and might sometimes have been used to distinguish royal colonies from the proprietary colonies. The term is now also used to designate autonomous areas associated with the United States, such as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.