Philadelphia is the
largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the second largest city on
the East Coast of the United States, and the fifth-most-populous city in the
United States. It is located in the Northeastern United States at the
confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and it is the only
consolidated city-county in Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia is the economic and cultural center of the Delaware Valley, home to over 6 million people and
the country's sixth-largest metropolitan area. Within the Delaware Valley, the
Philadelphia metropolitan division consists of five counties in Pennsylvania
and has a population of 4,008,994. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia are Philly
and The City of Brotherly Love, the latter of which comes from the
literal meaning of the city's name in Greek "brotherly love".
In 1682,
William Penn founded the city to serve as capital of Pennsylvania Colony. By
the 1750s, Philadelphia had surpassed Boston to become the largest city and
busiest port in British America, and second in the British Empire, behind
London. During the American Revolution,
Philadelphia played an instrumental role as a meeting place for the Founding
Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in
1776 and the Constitution in 1787. Philadelphia was one of the nation's
capitals during the Revolutionary War, and the city served as the temporary
U.S. capital while Washington, D.C., was under construction. During the 19th
century, Philadelphia became a major industrial center and railroad hub that
grew from an influx of European immigrants. It became a prime destination for
African Americans during the Great Migration and surpassed two million
occupants by 1950.
The city is
the center of economic activity in Pennsylvania, and is home to the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange and several Fortune 500 companies.
Philadelphia is known for its arts and culture. The
cheesesteak and soft pretzel are emblematic of Philadelphia cuisine, which is
shaped by the city's ethnic mix. The city has more outdoor sculptures and
murals than any other American city, and Philadelphia's Fairmount Park is the
largest landscaped urban park in the world. Gentrification
of Philadelphia's neighborhoods continues into the 21st century and the city
has reversed its decades-long trend of population loss.
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