As of 2007, Memphis had an estimated population of 677,272, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee, the second largest in the Southeastern United States, and the 18th largest in the United States.
The greater Memphis metropolitan area, including adjacent counties in Mississippi and Arkansas, has a population of 1,280,533. This makes Memphis the second largest metropolitan area in Tennessee, surpassed only by metropolitan Nashville, which overtook Memphis in recent years.
Memphis is the youngest of Tennessee's four major cities (traditionally including Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville). A resident of Memphis is referred to as a Memphian and the Memphis region is known, particularly to media outlets, as the "Mid-South."
According to the 2007 American Community Survey, the city's population was 32.8% White (30.2% non-Hispanic-White alone), 63.1% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7 Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 2.9% from some other race and 1.2% from two or more races. 4.6% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. [1]
As of the census of 2000, there were 650,100 people, 250,721 households, and 158,455 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,327.4 people per sq mi (898.6/km²). There were 271,552 housing units at an average density of 972.2 per sq mi (375.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 61.41% African American, 34.41% White, 1.46% Asian, 0.19% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.45% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.97% of the population.
The Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 42nd largest in the United States, has a 2003 population of 1,239,337, and includes the Tennessee counties of Shelby, Tipton, and Fayette, as well as the Mississippi counties of DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica, and the Arkansas county of Crittenden.
Although in 2004 violent crime in Memphis reached a record low for over a decade, that trend has changed. In 2005, Memphis was ranked the 4th most dangerous city with a population of 500,000 or higher in the U.S. Crime in Memphis increased in 2005, and has seen a dramatic rise in the first half of 2006. Nationally, cities follow similar trends, and crime numbers tend to be cyclical. Local experts and criminologists cite gang recruitment as one possible cause of the rise in crime in Memphis and to a reduction of 66% of federal funding to the Memphis Police Department.
In the first half of 2006, robbery of businesses increased 52.5%, robbery of individuals increased 28.5%, and homicide increased 18% over the same period of 2005. The Memphis Police Department has responded with the initiation of Operation Blue C.R.U.S.H. (Crime Reduction Using Statistical History), which targets crime hotspots and repeat offenders. Memphis ended 2005 with 154 murders, and 2006 ended with 160 murders. 2007 saw 164 murders and 2008 had 168. In 2006, the Memphis metropolitan area ranked second most dangerous in the nation, it also ranked first most dangerous in 2002 and second most dangerous the year before in 2001. Recently, Memphis ranked second most dangerous among cities over 500,000 in 2007, as well as the second most dangerous metropolitan area once again. In 2006, the Memphis metropolitan area ranked number one in violent crimes for major cities around the U.S according to the FBI's annual crime rankings, where it had ranked 2nd in 2005.
One of the largest celebrations the city has is Memphis in May. The month-long series of events promotes Memphis' heritage and outreach of its people far beyond the city's borders. There are four main events, the Beale Street Music Festival, International Week, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, and the Sunset Symphony. The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is the largest pork barbecue cooking contest in the world.
Carnival Memphis, formerly known as the Memphis Cotton Carnival, is an annual series of parties and festivities in the month of June that salutes various aspects of Memphis and its industries. An annual King and Queen of Carnival are secretly selected to reign over Carnival activities. The African-American community staged a parallel event known as the Cotton Makers Jubilee from 1935 to 1982, when it merged with Carnival Memphis.
An arts festival, the Cooper-Young Festival, is held annually in September in the Cooper-Young district of Midtown Memphis. The event draws artists from all over North America, and includes art sales, contests, and displays.
Memphis is the home of founders and establishers of various American music genres, including Blues, Gospel, Rock n' Roll, Buck, Crunk, and "sharecropper" country music (in contrast to the "rhinestone" country sound of Nashville). Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and B. B. King were all getting their starts in Memphis in the 1950s. They are respectively dubbed the "King" of Country, Rock n' Roll, and Blues.
Well-known writers from Memphis include Civil War historian Shelby Foote and playwright Tennessee Williams. Novelist John Grisham grew up in nearby DeSoto County, Mississippi and many of his books are set in Memphis.
Many works of fiction and literature use Memphis as their setting, giving a diverse portrait of the city, its history, and its citizens. These include The Reivers by William Faulkner (1962), September, September by Shelby Foote (1977), The Old Forest and Other Stories by Peter Taylor (1985), the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor (1986), The Firm by John Grisham (1991), Memphis Afternoons: a Memoir by James Conaway (1993), Cassina Gambrel Was Missing by William Watkins (1999), The Guardian by Beecher Smith (1999), and The Architect by James Williamson (2007).
Memphis is the subject of many major pop and country songs, including "Memphis" by Chuck Berry, "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad, "Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis, "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam Tillis, "Graceland" by Paul Simon, "Memphis Train" by Rufus Thomas, and "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn.
In addition, Memphis is mentioned in scores of other songs, including "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones, "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles, "Cities" by Talking Heads, "Crazed Country Rebel by Hank Williams III, and many others.
Since its founding, Memphis has been home to persons of many different faiths. An 1870 map of Memphis shows religious buildings of the Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Christian denominations and a Jewish congregation. In 2009, places of worship exist for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus.
Bellevue Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist megachurch in Memphis that was founded in 1903. Its current membership is approximately 27,000. For many years, it was led by Adrian Rogers, a three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The international headquarters of the Church of God in Christ is located in Memphis. Named after the denomination's founder, Charles Harrison Mason, Mason Temple is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech the day before he was killed. The church's Temple of Deliverance is the venue of the National Civil Rights Museum's Freedom Awards.
Other notable and/or large churches in Memphis include Second Presbyterian Church (EPC), Christ United Methodist Church, Idlewild Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), and Calvary Episcopal Church.
Memphis is home to two cathedrals. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis, and St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedralis the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee.
Memphis is home to an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Muslims of various cultures and ethnicities.
Memphis is home to Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue that has approximately 7,000 members, making it one of the largest Reform synagogues in the country. Baron Hirsch Synagogue is the largest Orthodox shul in America.
The city's central location has led to much of its business development. Located on the Mississippi River and intersected by several freight railroads and two Interstate highways, Memphis is ideally located for commerce among the transportation and shipping industry. River barges are unloaded onto trucks and trains. The city is home to Memphis International Airport, the world's busiest cargo airport, which serves as the primary hub for FedEx shipping.
Memphis is the home of nine Fortune 1000 companies. These include the corporate headquarters of FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated, International Paper, and Thomas & Betts. In addition, Memphis is home to the pharmaceutical/healthcare firm Schering-Plough Corporation, serving as the company's research & development center.
The entertainment and film industry have discovered Memphis in recent years. Several major motion pictures have been filmed in Memphis, including Mystery Train (1989), The Firm (1993), Cast Away (2000), Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Hustle and Flow (2006), Soul Men (2008) and Walk the Line (2005). The 1992 television movie Memphis, starring Memphis native Cybill Shepherd, who also served as executive producer and writer, was filmed in Memphis.
The city appeared in the top eight of the 50 best major metro areas in the U.S. for starting and growing a business in 2000, according to Inc. magazine.
Interstate 40 (I-40) and Interstate 55 (I-55) are the main freeways in the Memphis area. The interstates I-40 and I-55 (along with rail lines) cross the Mississippi at Memphis into the state of Arkansas.
A large volume of railroad freight traffic moves through Memphis, thanks to two Mississippi River railroad crossings and the convergence of several east-west and north-south rail lines.
By the early 20th Century, Memphis had two major rail passenger stations. After rail passenger service declined at mid-century, Memphis Union Station was razed in 1969. Memphis Central Station was renovated and now serves Amtrak's famed City of New Orleans, providing service between Chicago and New Orleans.
Memphis is served by Memphis International Airport, which handles more cargo than any other airport in the world as of 2007.
Memphis also has the 2nd biggest cargo port on the Mississippi River (the 4th biggest inland port in the United States). The International Port of Memphis covers the Tennessee and Arkansas sides of the Mississippi River from river mile 725 (km 1167) to mile 740 (km 1191).
Four rail and highway bridges cross the Mississippi River at Memphis. They are, in order of their opening year: Frisco Bridge (1892), Harahan Bridge (1916), Memphis-Arkansas Memorial Bridge (1949) and the Hernando de Soto Bridge (1973).