See something you'd like to change or add, but you've never edited an open encyclopædia before? This overview was written to help absolute beginners get started.

Pennsylvania

From A Storehouse of Knowledge

Jump to: navigation, search
A map of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a state in the United States. It is one of the original thirteen British colonies of the 17th and 18th centuries, and is the only one of the thirteen not bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Pennsylvania's name is derived from William Penn, the original proprietor of the colony and a Quaker, and sylvania, Latin for woods (literally Penn's Woods). Major cities in Pennsylvania include Philadelphia in the southeast of the state, and Pittsburgh in the southwest. Smaller cities include Scranton in the northeast, Erie in the northwest, Altoona in the middle, and the state capital, Harrisburg in the east-central part of the state.

Geography

The geography of Pennsylvania includes rich forests, several rivers and lakes, and a portion of the Appalachian Mountains that run through the middle of the state. It is bordered by several U.S. states, including New York to the north, New Jersey and Delaware to the east, Maryland to the south, Ohio to the west, and West Virginia to the south and west. Pennsylvania's southern border is known as the Mason-Dixon Line, named after the two surveyors who surveyed the state boundary.

Personal tools
visitor navigation