text: Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County in the north-central part of the state. Nashville is a major hub for the health care, music, publishing, and transportation industries.\n\nNashville's population stood at 575,261 as of 2005, according to United States Census Bureau estimates, making it the second-largest city in Tennessee (after Memphis). The 2005 population of the entire 13-county Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area was 1,422,544, making it the largest and fastest-growing metropolitan area in the state-.