Pennsylvania

Pine Creek Gorge

Pennsylvania, officially Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, constituent state of the United States of America, one of the original 13 American colonies. The state is approximately rectangular in shape and stretches about 300 miles (480 km) from east to west and 150 miles (240 km) from north to south. It is bounded to the north by Lake Erie and New York state; to the east by New York and New Jersey; to the south by Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia; and to the west by the panhandle of West Virginia and by Ohio. Harrisburg, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, is the capital.

Pennsylvania is classified as a Middle Atlantic state, along with New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. Its central location on the Eastern Seaboard is sometimes said to be the source of its nickname, the Keystone State. It does not, however, touch the Atlantic Ocean at any point. Water nonetheless has been nearly as crucial in the state’s growth as the wealth of its earth. The Delaware River forms the boundary between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In the northwest a small panhandle separates Ohio and New York and forms a 40-mile (65-km) waterfront on Lake Erie, giving the state access to the iron ore barges and other commerce of the Great Lakes.

The state has two great metropolitan areas. Philadelphia is a part of the East Coast population belt stretching from Boston to Norfolk, Virginia. It is a major harbour on the Delaware River and one of the world’s busiest shipping centres. In the west, Pittsburgh lies on the eastern edge of the great industrial region extending along the Great Lakes plains to Chicago. Area 46,054 square miles (119,280 square km). Population (2020) 13,002,700; (2022 est.) 12,972,008.