Editing Harlan, Kentucky (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Overlooking Flood Wall and Highway 421.jpg|thumb|right|A view of [[U.S. Route 421]] from downtown; the flood wall and Harlan Independent Schools' athletic fields are also visible.]]
Harlan is located in west-central Harlan County at {{coord|36|50|29|N|83|19|12|W|type:city}} (36.841487, -83.320066),<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> at the junction of the Clover Fork and Martin's Fork rivers. The Clover Fork continues north {{convert|1.5|mi}} to join the [[Poor Fork (Cumberland River)|Poor Fork]], forming the [[Cumberland River]], a major tributary of the [[Ohio River]]. Harlan is in a narrow mountain valley, constrained to the north by the western end of [[Black Mountain (Kentucky)|Black Mountain]], to the south by Little Black Mountain, and to the west by Ewing Spur. The elevation at the Harlan Courthouse is {{convert|1197|ft}} above sea level, while the surrounding ridges rise outside the city limits to {{convert|2100|ft}} (Black Mountain), {{convert|3000|ft}} (Little Black Mountain), and {{convert|2300|ft}} (Ewing Spur).

[[U.S. Route 421]] passes through the city as four-lane highway; it leads north {{convert|34|mi}} to [[Hyden, Kentucky|Hyden]] and southeast {{convert|23|mi}} to [[Pennington Gap, Virginia]]. The closest city with a population greater than 10,000 is [[Middlesboro, Kentucky]], {{convert|42|mi}} to the southeast via U.S. Routes [[U.S. Route 119|119]] and [[U.S. Route 25E|25E]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city of Harlan has a total area of {{convert|3.5|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|0.08|sqkm|order=flip|2}}, or 2.45%, are water.<ref name="Census 2010"/>

===Climate===
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, [[Humidity|humid]] summers and generally mild to cool winters.  According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Harlan has a [[humid subtropical climate]], abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.<ref>[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=54051&cityname=Harlan%2C+Kentucky%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Harlan, Kentucky]</ref>