Directly below the neck, at its base
The first thoracic vertebra (T1) is not set below the neck by any gap. It sits directly under the seventh cervical vertebra (C7), at the base of the neck where the neck joins the upper back.
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The neck is defined by the cervical spine, which ends at C7. T1 is the next vertebra down, so the distance below the neck is effectively zero: it starts where the neck ends. If you mean how far it lies below C7, that is one disc space, about a centimetre. Individual anatomy varies.
- The spine has 7 cervical vertebrae (C1–C7) in the neck, followed by 12 thoracic vertebrae (T1–T12).
- T1 sits immediately below C7, with only an intervertebral disc between them.
- T1 is the first vertebra to carry a pair of full ribs (rib 1) and marks the top of the thoracic spine.
- On the back, the C7 spinous process is the prominent bump at the base of the neck, and the T1 spinous process lies just below it.