Pennsylvania | Capital, Population, Map, Flag, Facts, & History (2024)

state, United States

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Also known as: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Keystone State

Written by

Carol Lewis Thompson Editor, Current History, Philadelphia, 1955–91.

Carol Lewis Thompson,

E. Willard Miller Emeritus Professor of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University. Author of Pennsylvania: A Keystone to Progress; A Geography of Pennsylvania; and others. Coeditor of Water Resources of Pennsylvania.

E. Willard MillerAll

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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 | Capital, Population, Map, Flag, Facts, & History (3)

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Facts & Stats

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Officially:
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Capital:
Harrisburg
Population:
(2020) 13,002,700; (2023 est.) 12,961,683
Governor:
Josh Shapiro (Democrat)
Date Of Admission:
Dec. 12, 17872
U.S. Senators:
Robert P. Casey (Democrat)
John Fetterman (Democrat)

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.

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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; (2023 est.) 12,961,683.

Land

Relief

The landforms of Pennsylvania had their origin about 500 million years ago, when a vast interior sea, up to several hundred miles wide, occupied the area from New England to Alabama. For about 250 million years, the rivers originating from an extensive mountain chain on the east poured sediments into the great Appalachian downwarp basin. Great swamps prevailed in southwestern Pennsylvania for millions of years and provided the vegetation that ultimately became the coal beds of the area.

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Beginning about 250 million years ago, plate-tectonic movement folded the flat-lying sediment into upwarps and downwarps. The heat created by this pressure also metamorphosed the rocks, changing the sandstone into quartzite, limestone into marble, and granite into gneiss. The pressure from the plate movement was confined to southeastern Pennsylvania, creating the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley provinces. The rocks of the Appalachian Plateau remained essentially flat-lying, and the dissection of the plateau has been created by erosion.

Pennsylvania includes parts of large physiographic regions that extend beyond its borders; those regions crossing the eastern and central parts of the state parallel one another along a sweeping northeast-southwest diagonal orientation. In the southeastern part of the state is a section of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, a narrow strip of sandy low-lying land immediately adjacent to the Delaware River. This region has played a major role in Pennsylvania history. It was the site of William Penn’s settlement and the initial city of Philadelphia. Immediately inland from the Coastal Plain is the Piedmont province, a gently rolling, well-drained plain that is rarely more than 500 feet (150 metres) above sea level; the eastern part is the Piedmont Upland. The boundary between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain is known as the fall line, with hard rock to the west and soft rock to the east. The Piedmont Lowland parallels the Piedmont Upland to its northwest. It is made of sedimentary rocks into which volcanic rocks have been intruded. Some of these volcanic rocks make ridges. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought there, the Northern army on the high ridges having the advantage over the Southern forces on the plains. The limestone rocks have weathered into fertile lowlands such as the Conestoga Lowlands of Lancaster county. Farther to the northwest lie two segments of a larger mountain range. The southern prong, extending to the Carlisle area, is the northernmost extension of the Blue Ridge system. The northern portion, known as the Reading Prong, is a small section of the larger New England topographic region. There is a major gap between these prongs.

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Inland from the Blue Ridge is one of the country’s most distinctive topographic regions, the Ridge and Valley Province. It consists of long, narrow valleys and parallel ridges aligned over a long distance. As seen from space, it appears as if an enormous rake had been dragged along the backbone of the Appalachians from northeast to southwest. None of the ridges rises above the valley floor more than 1,000 feet (300 metres), and nowhere does the elevation reach 3,000 feet (900 metres). On the east is the Great Valley, which stretches more than 1,200 miles (1,930 km) from Pennsylvania to Alabama. To the west and north of the Ridge and Valley Province is the Appalachian Plateau, an area of nearly 30,000 square miles (77,700 square km). The Allegheny Front, more than 1,500 feet (450 metres) high, divides the two provinces. With no passes, it is the most formidable obstacle to east-west transportation in Pennsylvania. Almost everywhere the plateau surface has been dissected by rivers into a chaos of valleys and hills. Mount Davis is the highest point in the state at 3,213 feet (979 metres). However, elevations range from about 1,000 to 3,000 feet. On the northwest is the narrow Lake Erie Plain, which rises in a series of steps from the lakeshore to the high escarpment of the Appalachian Plateau.

Drainage

Pennsylvania has three major river systems. In the east is the Delaware River, fed mainly by the Lehigh and Schuylkill rivers. In the central part of the state is the Susquehanna, draining the largest section of the state; it is a wide, shallow stream that meanders finally into Maryland and Chesapeake Bay. In the west is the Ohio River—formed by the confluence of the Allegheny (north) and Monongahela (south) rivers at Pittsburgh—from where it flows westward to the Mississippi River. Minor systems lead into Lake Erie in the northwest and the Potomac River from the southwest.

Pennsylvania | Capital, Population, Map, Flag, Facts, & History (2024)

FAQs

What are 3 historical facts about Pennsylvania? ›

The Chocolate Capital of the US is Hershey, Pa. The first computer existed in Philadelphia in 1946. The first piano in America was built in Philadelphia in 1775. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776.

What is the history of Pennsylvania flag? ›

The Pennsylvania legislature authorized the use of the coat of arms on a flag for the state militia on April 9, 1799, and variations on this flag design were used throughout the 19th century. Finally, on June 13, 1907, a state flag for nonmilitary purposes was approved by the legislature, and it is still in use.

How old is Pennsylvania in years? ›

Pennsylvania was created when England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn in March 1681. The 343-year-old Charter, often referred to as Pennsylvania's birth certificate, is written on parchment using iron gall ink.

What are some facts about Pennsylvania in the 1800s? ›

In the 1800s, Pennsylvania was an economic colossus driven by the expansion of mining, railroads, petroleum, iron and steel production, and manufacturing. The state's voracious demand for labor also fueled a new wave of European immigrants.

What was Pennsylvania originally called? ›

Penn named the territory New Wales. A Welsh member of England? s Privy Council objected, so Penn called it Sylvania (woods). The king changed the name to Pennsylvania, in honor of the admiral.

Why is the Pennsylvania flag blue? ›

During the Civil War, many Pennsylvania regiments carried flags modeled after the U.S. Flag, but substituted Pennsylvania's Coat of Arms for the field of stars. An act of the General Assembly of June 13, 1907, standardized the flag and required that the blue field match the blue of Old Glory.

What is the animal on the Pennsylvania state flag? ›

White-tailed deer

What bird is on the Pennsylvania flag? ›

The flag, seal, flower (mountain laurel), bird (ruffed grouse), and tree (eastern hemlock) are some of the major state symbols of Pennsylvania.

What is the oldest city in Pennsylvania? ›

Chester is the oldest City in Pennsylvania. In 1681, William Penn acquired the colonial settlement as a safe haven for Quakers. One year later he landed on the ship Welcome and renamed the settlement Chester, after the city in England.

What is Pennsylvania full name? ›

Pennsylvania (/ˌpɛnsɪlˈveɪniə/ PEN-sil-VAY-nee-ə, lit. 'Penn's forest country'), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch: Pennsylvanie), is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States.

What did Pennsylvania look like 10,000 years ago? ›

Prehistoric Origins of the Environment

Approximately 12,600 years ago ice glaciers had receded from the area that became Pennsylvania, and about 10,000 years ago (8000 B.C.) a period of warming began in which the rivers and coastlines of Pennsylvania started to take their modern form.

How did Pennsylvania get its nickname? ›

Besides its central location among the first 13 states, its vital role in leading and supporting democratic reforms ensured Pennsylvania its nickname the Keystone State. In architecture “keystone” is a central wedge of an arch which holds all the arch pieces together.

Why is Pennsylvania called PA? ›

The king at the time who 'owned' the colonized land, gave the 'new' English colony, to William Penn and named the area Pennsylvania which in Latin translates to Penn's Woods.

What happened in Pennsylvania in 1776? ›

In 1776, Pennsylvania adopted a new constitution that has been described as the most democratic in America. This constitution was the heart of a popular revolt against the existing government, one that had been brewing for months.

What are the major historical events in Pennsylvania? ›

Episodes
  • Abolition: Pennsylvania's Fight Against Slavery. The movement to abolish slavery had many Pennsylvania roots. ...
  • Milton Hershey: Unwrapping the Chocolate King. ...
  • Three Mile Island: Near-Miss Nuclear Disaster. ...
  • The Johnstown Flood. ...
  • The White Lady of Wopsy. ...
  • John Burns, Hero of Gettysburg. ...
  • The Whiskey Rebellion.

Why is Pennsylvania important in history? ›

While each of the Thirteen Colonies contributed to the American Revolution, Pennsylvania and especially Philadelphia were a center for the early planning and ultimately the formation of rebellion against King George III and the British empire, which was then the most powerful political and military empire in the world.

Is Pennsylvania a historical state? ›

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn, the son of the state's namesake. Prior to that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden, a Swedish Empire colony.

What are some historical facts about York PA? ›

It was in York that the Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, proclaimed the first National Day of Thanksgiving, and signed the French Treaty of Alliance. All of these events occurred in the nine months York remained Capital of the United States – until June 27, 1778.

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