The coat of arms of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic , Northeastern , Appalachian , and Great Lakes regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, forming the Mason–Dixon line , West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio to its west, the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie , New York to its north, and the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east. Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous U.S. state , home to over 13 million residents as of the 2020 United States census , and the ninth-highest state by population density . It is the 33rd-largest state by land area. The largest metropolitan statistical area is the Philadelphia metropolitan area /Delaware Valley , centered on Philadelphia , the state's most populous city and sixth-most populous U.S. city , and an expanding biopharmaceutical , commercial, educational, entrepreneurial /venture capital , industrial, and transportational hub. Pennsylvania's second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh , is centered in and around Pittsburgh , also a biopharmaceutical hub and the Commonwealth's second-largest city. Geographically situated between the two larger metros lies Harrisburg , the capital city of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania's geography is highly diverse. The Appalachian Mountains run through the center of the state, the Allegheny and Pocono mountains span much of Northeastern Pennsylvania , and approximately 59% of the state is forested . Although Pennsylvania technically has no oceanic shoreline , it has 140 miles (225 km) of waterfront along Lake Erie and along the tidal Delaware River, the latter of which reaches the Delaware Bay , a marginal bay of the Atlantic Ocean .
Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn , the son of the commonwealth's namesake . Before that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden , a Swedish colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the British colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system , and religious pluralism . Pennsylvania played a vital historical role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire, hosting the First and Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia , the latter of which formed the Continental Army commanded by George Washington in 1775, during the American Revolutionary War , unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution after Delaware . (Full article...
This is a Featured article , which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.. Harrison Wright Falls, 27 feet (8.2 m), at Ricketts Glen State Park
Ricketts Glen State Park ha) state park situated primarily within Luzerne County , Pennsylvania, United States, with its remaining territory extending into neighboring Columbia and Sullivan counties. Ricketts Glen is a National Natural Landmark known for its old-growth forest and 24 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek , which flows down the Allegheny Front escarpment from the Allegheny Plateau to the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians . The park is near the borough of Benton on Pennsylvania Route 118 and Pennsylvania Route 487 , and is in five townships: Sugarloaf in Columbia County, Fairmount and Ross in Luzerne County, and Colley and Davidson in Sullivan County.
Ricketts Glen's land was once home to Native Americans . From 1822 to 1827, a turnpike was built along the course of PA 487 in what is now the park, where two squatters harvested cherry trees to make bed frames from about 1830 to 1860. The park's waterfalls were one of the main attractions for a hotel from 1873 to 1903; the park is named for the hotel's proprietor, R. Bruce Ricketts , who built the trail along the waterfalls. By the 1890s Ricketts owned or controlled over 80,000 acres (320 km2 ; 120 sq mi) and made his fortune clearcutting almost all of that land, including much of what is now the park; however he preserved about 2,000 acres (810 ha) of virgin forest in the creek's three glens . The sawmill was at the village of Ricketts , which was mostly north of the park. After his death in 1918, Ricketts' heirs began selling land to the state for Pennsylvania State Game Lands . (Full article...
Warren Municipal Building in Warren in July 2012
Warren Seneca : Ga:nöwögö:h ) is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Pennsylvania , United States, located along the Allegheny River . The population was 9,404 at the 2020 census. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornplanter State Forest . It is also the headquarters for the Chief Cornplanter Council , the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scouts of America Council, and the catalog company Blair . Warren is the principal city of the Warren micropolitan area . (Full article...
Johnstown, Pennsylvania Scranton, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Philadelphia Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Allentown, Pennsylvania Lancaster, Pennsylvania State College, Pennsylvania DuBois, Pennsylvania Erie, Pennsylvania Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Juniata County, Pennsylvania Pithole, Pennsylvania Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Larrys Creek State Route 1002 (Lehigh County, Pennsylvania) Pennsylvania Route 563 Hull Creek (Lackawanna River tributary) Little Fishing Creek Ganoga Lake Mahoning Creek (Susquehanna River tributary) Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania Roaring Brook (Lackawanna River tributary) Pennsylvania Route 463 Kettle Creek (Pennsylvania) Spanish Hill West Branch Fishing Creek West Creek (Pennsylvania) Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 White Deer Hole Creek Plunketts Creek (Loyalsock Creek tributary) Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) Kinzua Bridge Quehanna Wild Area Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Levittown, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Turnpike Pocono Mountains Altoona, Pennsylvania
Credit: Kev72 Downtown Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building as seen from Cumberland County, across the
Susquehanna River .
This is a Good article , an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards. The first commercial version of Mr. Peanut created by E. C. Stoner from the competition entry of 14-year-old Antonio Gentile in 1916. Elmer Cecil Stoner comics artist and commercial illustrator . Stoner was one of the first African-American comic book artists, and is believed to have created the iconic Mr. Peanut mascot. He produced pencil art for the first issue of Detective Comics , published by National Comics Publications (the company that later became DC Comics ), and worked for a variety of other golden age companies such as Timely Comics , Street & Smith , EC Comics , Fawcett Comics , and Dell Comics . Near the end of his life, Stoner was also a spokesman for Gordon's Gin . (Full article...
Marino preparing for a 2005
ESPN interview
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. mə-REE -noh football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons with the Miami Dolphins . He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers , earning first-team All-American honors in 1981. Marino was the last quarterback taken in the first round of the famed quarterback class of 1983 . He held or currently holds dozens of NFL records associated with the quarterback position and is recognized among the greatest quarterbacks in American football history.
Best remembered for his quick release and powerful arm, Marino helped the Dolphins become consistent postseason contenders, leading them to the playoffs ten times and one Super Bowl appearance in XIX , although a title victory ultimately eluded him during his career. Marino is considered by many to be one of the greatest players to never win a Super Bowl and has the most career victories of quarterbacks not to win a title at 155. (Full article...
October 13, 2026 – North Korean remote worker scheme The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation announces the arrests of two men in Ohio and Pennsylvania over an alleged North Korean remote-work scheme and the seizures of about 187 computers and related devices from more than 40 suspected laptop farms in Texas . (AFP via Malay Mail )
October 12, 2026 – A woman stabs her husband and her 3-year-old son to death while on vacation at a Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Township , Pocono Mountains , Pennsylvania , U.S. . (ABC News)
October 9, 2026 – 2026 Erie shooting Eight people are killed, including the perpetrator, in a mass shooting at a home in Erie , Pennsylvania , United States. (AP) (BBC News)
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State Facts
Pennsylvania's largest city Philadelphia Nickname: The Keystone State Capital: Harrisburg Largest city: Philadelphia Total area: 119,283 square kilometers (46,055 square miles)Population (2000 census): 12,281,054Date admitted to the Union: December 12, 1787 (2nd )State symbols
Mountain laurel, Pennsylvania's state flower
The following are images from various Pennsylvania-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Stephen Decatur , a 19th-century
naval commander who served in the
War of 1812 and other engagements (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 2 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom 's
Steel Force and
Thunderhawk roller coasters in
Allentown ; Steel Force is the eighth-longest
steel roller coaster in the world with a first drop of 205 feet (62
m) and a top speed of 75 miles per hour (121
km/h). (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 3 Citizens Bank Park in
South Philadelphia , home of the
Philadelphia Phillies , the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in American professional sports (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 6 The
Philadelphia Eagles are presented with the
Vince Lombardi Trophy on February 4, 2018, after winning
Super Bowl LII , in which they defeated the
New England Patriots 41–33. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 8 A graph of unemployment in Pennsylvania vs United States average (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 9 The
Köppen climate types of Pennsylvania based on 1991–2020
climate normals (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 10 2024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from
Pennsylvania )
Image 11 On November 19, 1863,
President Abraham Lincoln (center, facing camera) traveled to present-day
Gettysburg National Cemetery and delivered the
Gettysburg Address , a 271-word address considered one of the most famous speeches in American history. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 13 Pittsburgh Steelers ' fans waving the
Terrible Towel , a tradition that dates back to
1975 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 14 Pennsylvania population density map (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 16 Philadelphia International Airport , the busiest airport in the state and the
21st-busiest airport in the nation with over 13 million passengers in 2023 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 18 The
Statue of Benjamin Franklin on the campus of the
University of Pennsylvania in
West Philadelphia , which pays tribute to
Benjamin Franklin , a
Founding Father who founded the university, now an
Ivy League institution and one of the world's top universities, in 1740 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 20 Bethlehem Steel in
Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 20th century. In 1982, however, it discontinued most of its operations, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 21 Map of counties in Pennsylvania by racial and ethnic plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 24 An
Amish family riding in a traditional
Amish buggy in
Lancaster County . As of 2024, Pennsylvania has an Amish population of 92,660, the
largest of any state in the nation. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 25 The
colonial possessions of
Britain (in pink),
France (in blue), and
Spain (in orange) as of 1750. The French later lost their possessions in
North America to Britain following its defeat in the
French and Indian War , fought from 1754 to 1763 (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 26 The Birth of Pennsylvania , a portrait of
William Penn (standing with document in hand), who founded the
Province of Pennsylvania in 1681 as a refuge for
Quakers after receiving a royal deed to it from
King Charles II (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 27 Simon Cameron of
Maytown was
Secretary of War and head of Pennsylvania's
Republican Party , whose party machine controlled Pennsylvania into the 20th century. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 28 A map of
New Netherland (in magenta) and
New Sweden (in blue) in the 17th century. New Sweden was later absorbed by New Netherland and then the
British in the
Second Anglo-Dutch War . (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 29 The locomotive
Tioga in
Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 30 Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 31 Largest alone or in any combination ethnic origin by county in Pennsylvania, per the 2020 census (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 35 Pat's King of Steaks in
South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the
cheesesteak in 1933. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 36 The
Battle of Gettysburg , an 1887 portrait by
Thure de Thulstrup depicting the
Battle of Gettysburg , fought over three days from July 1 to 3, 1863, in
Gettysburg . It was the
deadliest battle ever fought on American soil and the bloodiest battle in all of American military history. But the
Union army 's victory at Gettysburg proved the
Civil War's turning point , paving the way for the
Union 's ultimate victory two years later and the nation's preservation. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 37 The
Stonycreek Township crash site of
Flight 93 , one of four planes hijacked in the
September 11 attacks ; the site is now a
national memorial . Flight 93 passengers wrestled with
al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers for control of the plane, preventing it from being likely flown into the
U.S. Capitol or the
White House . (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 39 One of only two confirmed photos of
Abraham Lincoln (sitting in center, facing camera, without his traditional top hat) at
Gettysburg a few hours prior to giving the
Gettysburg Address at
Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. The address, which was only 271 words in length, ranks among the most famed speeches in American history. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 41 The
Gettysburg campaign , which culminated in the
Battle of Gettysburg , was a major turning point in the
American Civil War and the war's bloodiest battle with an estimated 46,000 to 51,000 casualties (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 43 Shelter House in
Emmaus , constructed in 1734 by
Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest continuously occupied building structure in the
Lehigh Valley and one of the oldest in Pennsylvania (from
Pennsylvania )
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