For historical population data, see: History of Memphis, Tennessee.

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition of Memphis was as follows:

White: 31.7% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 29.5%) Black or African American: 62.6% Native American: 0.2% Asian: 1.7% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1% Some other race: 2.7% Two or more races: 1.2% Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 5.0%

Source:[15]

As of the census[2] 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 median income for a household in the city was $32,285, and the median income for a family was $37,767. Males had a median income of $31,236 versus $25,183 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,838. About 17.2% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.

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.

[edit] Religion

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 other Christian denominations and a Jewish congregation.[16] In 2009, places of worship exist for Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims.

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, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States, 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), Colonial Park United Methodist Church, Christ United Methodist Church, Idlewild Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), The Pentecostal Church (UPCI), Calvary Episcopal Church, and Elliston Baptist 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 Cathedral is 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.[17]

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.[18]

[edit] Culture [edit] Cultural events

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.

Also held in May, rain or shine, is the Memphis Greek Festival at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. The festival usually lasts 2 days and hosts musical performances, local artisans, and children's activities. However, the primary attraction at the festival is authentic Greek food and wine tasting.

During June, Memphis is home to the Memphis Italian Festival at Marquette Park. For over 20 years, the festival has hosted musical acts, local artisans, and Italian cooking competitions. It also presents chef demonstrations, the Coors Light Competitive Bocce Tournament, the Galtelli Cup Recreational Bocce Tournament, a volleyball tournament, and pizza tossing demonstrations.

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.[19]

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 also home to two film festivals, the Memphis International Film and Music Festival and the Indie Memphis Film Festival. The Memphis International Film and Music Festival is held in April and is in its 11th year, whereas the Indie Memphis Film Festival is in its 13th year and held in October. Both festivals feature a variety of films, including animations, documentaries, student films, and short films.

[edit] The arts

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, Issac Hayes and B. B. King all got their start in Memphis in the 1950s.

Several notable singers are from the Memphis, including Ruth Welting and Kallen Esperian. The Metropolitan Opera began coming to Memphis in 1906, their first road show, but in the 1990s decided to only visit larger cities.

Well-known writers from Memphis include American Civil War historian Shelby Foote. Novelist John Grisham grew up in nearby DeSoto County, Mississippi and many of his books are set in Memphis.

[edit] Visual Art

In addition to the Brooks Museum and Dixon Gallery, Memphis plays host to 2 burgeoning visual art areas, one city-sanctioned, and the other organically formed.

The South Main Arts District is the arts neighborhood nurtured by the Convention and Visitors Bureau and other civic organizations. Over the past 20 years, the area has been morphed from a derelict brothel and juke joint neighborhood to a gentrified, well lit, nicely paved home of the "Trolley Night" where suburban patrons of the arts may stroll down the street witnessing fire spinners, djs playing in front of clubs on the street, and couch painting galleries selling tourist oriented ephemera.

The other, developing art area in Memphis is Broad Street. Broad Street is undergoing neighborhood gentrification by the influx of visual artists taking up residence and studios in the area. An art professor from Rhodes College opened an art space on the first floor of his home and hosts regular shows of both visiting artists to the college as well as some local students and professional artists. Odessa, another art space on Broad Street, hosts student art shows and local electronic music.

Outside these two areas, Memphis has non-commercial visual arts organizations and spaces, including local painter Pinkney Herbert's Marshall Arts gallery, on Marshall Street nearby Sun Studios.

Other non-commercial artspace/galleries include: 822 Rozelle - Studios and Gallery (Cooper Young area) Five in One (VINI) - Installation based Exhibition Space (Crosstown) Medicine Factory - Gallery (South Downtown)

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 (1991) and The Client (1994), both by John Grisham, Memphis Afternoons: a Memoir by James Conaway (1993), "Plague of Dreamers" by Steve Stern (1997) Cassina Gambrel Was Missing by William Watkins[disambiguation needed] (1999), The Guardian by Beecher Smith (1999), "We are Billion-Year-Old Carbon" by Corey Mesler (2005), The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, and The Architect by James Williamson[disambiguation needed] (2007).

[edit] Cultural references

Memphis is the subject of many major pop and country songs, including "The Memphis Blues" by W. C. Handy, "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, "All the Way from Memphis" by Mott the Hoople, "Wrong Side of Memphis" by Trisha Yearwood, "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn, "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" by Bob Dylan and "Memphis Skyline" by [[Rufus Wainwright] and "Go to Memphis Town," by El Espada Timothy Lee Matthews.

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, "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" by U2, and many others.

[edit] Economy

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, I-40 and I-55, Memphis is ideally located for commerce in the transportation and shipping industry. A third interstate, I-69, is under construction, and a fourth, I-22, has recently been designated from the former High Priority Corridor X. 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 Express shipping and became a secondary hub for Delta Air Lines after it merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008.

Memphis is the home of three Fortune 500 companies: FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated, and International Paper.[20] In addition, Memphis is home to the pharmaceutical/healthcare firm Schering-Plough Corporation, serving as the company's research and development center. In 2006, a fourth Fortune 500 company, ServiceMaster, announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Downer's Grove, Illinois to Memphis. In 2007, ServiceMaster became a private company. Other major corporations based in Memphis include Medtronic Sofamor Danek, First Tennessee National Corporation, Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., Thomas and Betts Corporation, Mueller Industries, Fred's Inc., Verso Paper, Allenberg Cotton Co., Dunavant Enterprises, Accredo Health Group, Inc., GE Capital Aviation Services, Inc., Baptist Memorial Hospital, Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare, Baker Donelson, among others. Corporations with major operations based in the Memphis area include Hilton Worldwide, Technicolor Home Entertainment Services, Smith & Nephew, Sharp Manufacturing, Brother International, and Harrah's Entertainment.

The entertainment and film industry have discovered Memphis in recent years. Several major motion pictures have been filmed in Memphis, including Making the Grade (1984), Great Balls of Fire (1988), Mystery Train (1989), The Firm (1993), Cast Away (2000), Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Walk the Line (2005), Hustle and Flow (2006), and Soul Men (2008). The Blind Side (2009) was set in Memphis, but was filmed in Atlanta, GA. The 1992 television movie Memphis, starring Memphis native Cybill Shepherd, who also served as executive producer and writer, was also filmed in Memphis. The State of Tennessee has lacked sufficient tax breaks available in other states to compete for many productions that have been interested in filming in Memphis, and the state as a whole. Besides "The Blind Side", whose production was lured to Georgia, "Memphis Beat," a television series on TNT set in Memphis, has been lured to Louisiana. This is despite several actors and creatives behind the scene having expressed their preference for shooting where the show is based.