The state capital of Pennsylvania isHarrisburg. The largest city in Pennsylvania isPhiladelphia. The state nickname of Pennsylvania is, "The Keystone State". The current governor of Pennsylvania is Josh Shapiro.
Pennsylvania is well known for its role in theAmerican Revolution, its large communities ofAmish, and its heavy industry.
The first European settlers in Pennsylvania were fromSweden.[11][12] They arrived in 1643. The area was later ruled by theNetherlands andGreat Britain. In 1681,Charles II of England, gave the land toWilliam Penn. Penn used the land to create a home forQuakers. The land became known as "Penn's Woods", as Pennsylvania has many forests. InLatin this is "Pennsylvania". This became adopted as the name of the colony.[13]
The state ofDelaware was once part of Pennsylvania. In 1704, Delaware formed when three Pennsylvania counties left the colony and created their own government.[14]
Later, Pennsylvania became an important center of industry.Kerosene was discovered inTitusville in the 19th century.[18] This was the start of the oil industry in the United States. Large deposits of coal were found in and around Pittsburgh. This caused Pittsburgh to become a major industrial city. Pennsylvania was the location of two hugely prominent strikes, theGreat Railroad Strike of 1877 and theCoal Strike of 1902. The eight-hour day was eventually adopted, and the coal and iron police were banned.[19]
Industry began leaving Pennsylvania in the late 20th century, because most heavy industry was being transferred to other nations. Many people left, too. It also caused many of its cities and towns to decay.[20][21]
Most of Pennsylvania is part of theAppalachian Mountains, including the south central and northeastern areas of the state.[23] Much of the rest of the state is very hilly, partly due to the closeness to mountains and partly due to the steep river valleys in the state. The Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers are in the western part of the state, and the Susquehanna is in the central part of the state. The northwestern and southeastern parts of the state are mostly flat and low-lying.[23]
Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest state in the United States, with a land area of 44,817 square miles. The highest point in the state is Mount Davis, at 3,213 feet above sea level. The lowest point is the Delaware River, which is at sea level.[23]
Pennsylvania is the 5th most populated state. In 2020, there were 13,002,700 people.[24]
More than half of the people live in the areas of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Few people live in the north central area of the state. Towns and cities tend to be small in size and densely populated, more so than in other states. This is because many of the towns and cities in Pennsylvania were built around a specific factory or factories.[24]
Pennsylvania has many colleges and universities. Officially, the state's public university isPennsylvania State University. Best known are a few private university systems which are partially (around 10%) funded by the state, likeUniversity of Pittsburgh. The state's most well-known private university is theUniversity of Pennsylvania, anIvy League institution. Pennsylvania also has a number of state run colleges in Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester. Those fourteen schools make up one of the largest state run higher education systems in the country.[25]
↑"On the Susquehannocks: Natives having used Baltimore County as hunting grounds – The Historical Society of Baltimore County". www.HSOBC.org. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
↑McCormick, Richard P. (1964).New Jersey from Colony to State, 1609–1789. New Jersey Historical Series, Volume 1. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company. p.12.
↑"Wales on Britannia: Facts About Wales & the Welsh". Britannia.com. Archived fromthe original on February 22, 2015. RetrievedSeptember 16, 2013.This day, my country was confirmed to me under the great seal of England, with privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania, a name the King would give it in honor of my father. I chose New Wales, being as this, a pretty, hilly country, but Penn being Welsh for head as in Penmanmoire (sic), in Wales, and Penrith, in Cumberland, and Penn, in Buckinghamshire . . . called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or head woodlands; for I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales, Sylvania and they added Penn to it, and though I opposed it and went to the King to have it struck out and altered he said it was past . . nor could twenty guineas move the under-secretary to vary the name
↑Armstrong, Edward, ed. (1860).Record of the Court at Upland, in Pennsylvania, 1676 to 1681. Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Volume 7. pp.119, 198.
