Pennsylvania, United States — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Pennsylvania known for?

Pennsylvania is known as the Mid-Atlantic commonwealth reaching from the Delaware River in the east to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes in the northwest. Philadelphia, its largest city, anchors the southeast. Pittsburgh anchors the west.

The Appalachian ridges cross the middle, and Harrisburg serves as the state capital. Two great cities define it.

Where is Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania sits in the Mid-Atlantic, bordered on the east by the Delaware River and New Jersey, and on the south by Maryland along the Mason-Dixon Line. Delaware meets it at the southeast corner. To the west lies Ohio, and to the southwest West Virginia.

New York runs along the north. In the northwest, the state reaches Lake Erie, giving it a short shoreline on the Great Lakes and a water border with the Canadian province of Ontario. The land is wide.

The Appalachian ridges cross the commonwealth from southwest to northeast, folding the interior into long parallel valleys. Philadelphia stands low in the southeast, near the Delaware River. Pittsburgh rises among the western hills.

Harrisburg, the state capital, sits in the central valleys between the two, where the Appalachian country gives way to the lower Mid-Atlantic ground. Between the ridges, roads and rail lines thread the valleys that link Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Ridges define the middle.

From the shore of Lake Erie to the Delaware River, Pennsylvania spans a great breadth of the Mid-Atlantic, a commonwealth of ridge and valley, river and lake.

What is Pennsylvania like?

Pennsylvania carries the culture of two great cities and the country between them. Philadelphia, the largest city, gives the southeast an urban, Mid-Atlantic character shaped by the Delaware River and the seaboard beyond. Pittsburgh gives the west its own identity, an industrial city set among the Appalachian hills.

The commonwealth calls itself the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one of the older self-governing states of the United States. It has stood as a commonwealth since 1787. Two poles pull it.

Between the cities lies the Appalachian interior, a country of ridge and valley with a rural character distinct from either metropolis. Life along the Delaware River differs from life on the shore of Lake Erie in the far northwest. The seaboard and the interior speak to each other across the ridges.

The commonwealth has long balanced its eastern, seaboard half against its western, Great Lakes reach. Harrisburg governs from the centre. Its identity runs deep.

Rivers and ridges divide it as much as they join it. This spread of city and country, from the Mid-Atlantic seaboard to the Appalachian ridges, gives Pennsylvania a character drawn from many parts rather than one.

What is the history of Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania took shape as a commonwealth in 1787, among the first states of the United States. The Mason-Dixon Line marked its border with Maryland. Philadelphia, the largest city, served as an early centre of the young republic.

The Delaware River carried its trade. From the seaboard the commonwealth pushed westward over the Appalachian ridges toward the Ohio country and, in the far northwest, reached the shore of Lake Erie.

What is the climate of Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. Summers are warm and humid across the Delaware River lowlands, while the Appalachian ridges stay cooler and hold heavier snow in the cold months. Winters bite in the hills.

Near Lake Erie, lake-effect snow falls hard where winds cross the Great Lakes, and the northwest endures long snowy winters. Spring and autumn bring milder weather between the two extremes.

How do you get to Pennsylvania?

Most travellers reach Pennsylvania through Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, its two largest cities. Both are served by major airports and sit on the highways and rail lines that cross the Mid-Atlantic. Roads climb the Appalachian ridges between them.

Harrisburg, the state capital, lies on the central routes. From New York, Ohio, and Maryland, interstate highways cross the borders into the commonwealth, and Lake Erie gives the northwest a link to the Great Lakes.