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Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the
largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
in the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the
Northeast megalopolis The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, or BosWash, is the world's largest megalopolis in terms of economic output and the second most populous megalopolis in the United St ...
and Mid-Atlantic regions after
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the
Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...
, the nation's seventh-largest and one of world's largest metropolitan regions, with 6.245 million residents . The city's population at the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
and the nation's independence. Philadelphia hosted the
First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...
in 1774 following the Boston Tea Party, preserved the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
, and hosted the
Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
during which the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Once the Revolutionary War commenced, both the
Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Con ...
and the Siege of Fort Mifflin were fought within Philadelphia's city limits. The
U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
was later ratified in Philadelphia at the
Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...
of 1787. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, when it was surpassed by New York City, and served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions during and following the American Revolution, including from 1790 to 1800 while the new national capital of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, was under construction. With 18 four-year universities and colleges, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and
academic research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
. , the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan economy with a
gross metropolitan product Gross metropolitan product (GMP) is a monetary measure of the value of all final goods and services produced within a metropolitan statistical area during a specified period (''e.g.'', a quarter, a year). GMP estimates are commonly used to compare ...
(
GMP GMP may refer to: Finance and economics * Gross metropolitan product * Guaranteed maximum price * Guaranteed Minimum Pension Science and technology * GNU Multiple Precision Arithmetic Library, a software library * Granulocyte-macrophage progenit ...
) of US$479 billion. Philadelphia is the largest center of economic activity in Pennsylvania and the broader multi-state Delaware Valley region; the city is home to five
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
corporate headquarters as of 2022. The Philadelphia skyline, which includes several globally renowned commercial skyscrapers, is expanding, primarily with new residential high-rise
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s. The city and the Delaware Valley are a
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
and
venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
hub; and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in
options Option or Options may refer to: Computing *Option key, a key on Apple computer keyboards *Option type, a polymorphic data type in programming languages * Command-line option, an optional parameter to a command *OPTIONS, an HTTP request method ...
trading.
30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transport and
logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
infrastructure, including
Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
, the PhilaPort seaport,
freight rail Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...
infrastructure, roadway traffic capacity, and
warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
storage space, are all expanding. Philadelphia is a national cultural hub, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city.
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
, is , representing one of the nation's largest contiguous
urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
s and the 45th largest urban park in the world. The city is known for its arts,
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
,
cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...
, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in total economic impact to the city and surrounding Pennsylvania counties. With five professional sports teams and a hugely loyal fan base, the city is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active
LGBTQ+ community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B,
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
, and
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first
library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
(1731),
hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
(1751),
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...
(1765),
national capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...
(1774), university (by some accounts) (1779),
stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...
(1790),
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...
(1874), and
business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...
(1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans. In 2021, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine named Philadelphia one of the world's greatest 100 places.


History


Native peoples

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape (Delaware)
Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
in the village of Shackamaxon. They were also called the Delaware Indians,Josephy 188–189 and their historical territory was along the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
, western
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, and the
Lower Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District, New York, Capital Di ...
. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, exacerbated by losses from intertribal conflicts. Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
, and conflict with Europeans. The
Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
occasionally fought the Lenape. Surviving Lenape moved west into the upper
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
basin. The
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and the United States' independence pushed them further west. In the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
(present-day Oklahoma and surrounding territory) under the
Indian removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...
policy.


Colonial

Europeans came to the
Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...
in the early 17th century, with the first settlements founded by Dutch colonists, who in 1623 built Fort Nassau on the Delaware River in what is now
Brooklawn, New Jersey Brooklawn is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,815, a drop of 140 from the 2010 census enumeration of 1,955,New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
colony. In 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of
New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
at
Fort Christina Fort Christina (also called Fort Altena) was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Queen Christina of Sweden, it was located approximately 1 mi (1.6 ...
(present-day
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
) and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the
Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
s in their war against
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
colonists. In 1648, the Dutch built Fort Beversreede on the west bank of the Delaware, south of the Schuylkill River near the present-day Eastwick neighborhood, to reassert their dominion over the area. The
Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
responded by building
Fort Nya Korsholm A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, or New Korsholm, named after a town in
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
with a Swedish majority. In 1655, a Dutch military campaign led by New Netherland Director-General
Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...
took control of the Swedish colony, ending its claim to independence. The Swedish and Finnish settlers continued to have their own militia, religion, and court, and to enjoy substantial autonomy under the Dutch. An English fleet captured the New Netherland colony in 1664, though the situation did not change substantially until 1682, when the area was included in
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
's charter for Pennsylvania. In 1681, in partial repayment of a debt,
Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
granted Penn a
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
for what would become the Pennsylvania colony. Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape to be on good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for his colony. Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany under an elm tree at Shackamaxon, in what is now the city's Fishtown neighborhood. Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for "brotherly love," derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
terms φίλος ''phílos'' (beloved, dear) and ἀδελφός ''adelphós'' (brother, brotherly). There were a number of cities named ''
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
'' in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Greek and Roman periods, including one (modern Alaşehir) mentioned as the site of an early Christian congregation in the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...
. As a
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
, Penn had experienced religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely. This tolerance, far more than afforded by most other colonies, led to better relations with the local native tribes and fostered Philadelphia's rapid growth into America's most important city. Penn planned a city on the Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Hoping that Philadelphia would become more like an English rural town instead of a city, Penn laid out roads on a
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...
to keep houses and businesses spread far apart, with areas for gardens and
orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...
s. The city's inhabitants did not follow Penn's plans, however, as they crowded by the present-day Port of Philadelphia on the Delaware River, and subdivided and resold their lots. Before Penn left Philadelphia for the last time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing it as a city. Though poor at first, the city became an important trading center with tolerable living conditions by the 1750s.
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, a leading citizen, helped improve city services and founded new ones, such as fire protection, a library, and one of the American colonies' first hospitals. A number of philosophical societies were formed, which were centers of the city's intellectual life: the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785), the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts (1787), the Academy of Natural Sciences (1812), and the Franklin Institute (1824). These societies developed and financed new industries, attracting skilled and knowledgeable immigrants from Europe.


Revolution

Philadelphia's importance and central location in the colonies made it a natural center for America's revolutionaries. By the 1750s, Philadelphia had surpassed
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
as the largest city and busiest port in
British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...
, and the second-largest city in the entire
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, after
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Before the Revolutionary War, in 1774, as resentment of British colonial practices and support for independence was burgeoning in the colonies, Philadelphia hosted the
First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...
. From 1775 to 1781, Philadelphia hosted the
Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
, which adopted the Declaration of Independence in what was then called the
Pennsylvania State House The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...
and now is called Independence Hall, on July 4, 1776. Historian Joseph Ellis, in 2007, described the Declaration of Independence as "the most potent and consequential words in American history," and its adoption represented a declaration of war, already ongoing since April 1775, against the British Army, which was then the most powerful military force in the world. Since the Declaration's July 4, 1776, adoption, its signing has been cited globally and repeatedly by various peoples of the world seeking independence and liberty. It also has been, since its adoption, the basis for annual celebration by Americans; in 1938, this celebration of the Declaration was formalized as
Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
, one of only ten designated U.S. federal holidays. After
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's defeat at the
Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Ame ...
in
Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania Chadds Ford Township is an affluent township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about southwest of Philadelphia. Prior to 1996, Chadds Ford Township was known as Birmingham Township; the name was changed to allow the township to cor ...
on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless. The city prepared for what was perceived to be an inevitable
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
attack. Because bells could easily be recast into munitions, the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
, then known as the Pennsylvania State Bell, along with bells from two Philadelphia churches, Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, were hastily taken down and transported by heavily-guarded wagon train out of the city. The Liberty Bell was taken to Zion German Reformed Church in Northampton Town (present-day Allentown), where it was hidden under the church's floor boards for nine months, from September 1777 until the British Army's departure from Philadelphia in June 1778, during the British occupation of Philadelphia. Two Revolutionary War battles, the Siege of Fort Mifflin (September 26 to November 16, 1777) and the
Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Con ...
(October 4, 1777), were both fought within Philadelphia's city limits. In Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress adopted the
Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
on November 15, 1777, and the city later served as the meeting place for the Constitutional Convention, which ratified the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Philadelphia served as capital of the United States for much of the colonial and early post-colonial periods, including for a decade, from 1790 to 1800, while the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
was being constructed and prepared to serve as the new nation's national capital. In 1793, the largest yellow fever epidemic in U.S. history killed approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people in Philadelphia, or about 10% of the city's population. The state capital was moved to Lancaster in 1799, then
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
in 1812, while the federal government was moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800 upon completion of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
and
U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...
building. Philadelphia remained the young nation's largest city until the late 18th century, serving as the nation's financial and cultural center, until ultimately being eclipsed in total population by
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1790. In 1816, the city's free Black community founded the
African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...
(AME), the first independent Black denomination in the country, and the first Black Episcopal Church. The free black community also established many schools for its children, with the help of Quakers. Large-scale construction projects for new roads,
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
s, and railroads made Philadelphia the first major
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
city in the United States.


19th century

Throughout the 19th century, Philadelphia hosted a variety of industries and businesses, the largest being
textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
. Major corporations in the 19th and early 20th centuries included the
Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
, William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
. Established in 1870, the Philadelphia Conveyancers' Association was chartered by the state in 1871. Industry, along with the U.S. Centennial, was celebrated in 1876 with the Centennial Exposition, the first official
World's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
in the United States. Immigrants, mostly from Ireland and Germany, settled in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts. These immigrants were largely responsible for the first general strike in North America in 1835, in which workers in the city won the ten-hour workday. The city was a destination for thousands of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in the 1840s; housing for them was developed south of South Street and later occupied by succeeding immigrants. They established a network of
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
churches and schools and dominated the Catholic clergy for decades. Anti-Irish, anti-Catholic nativist
riots A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...
erupted in Philadelphia in 1844. The rise in population of the surrounding districts helped lead to the Act of Consolidation of 1854, which extended the city limits from the of Center City to the roughly of Philadelphia County. In the latter half of the 19th century and leading into the 20th century, immigrants from Russia,
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, and Italy, and African Americans from the
southern U.S. The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
settled in the city. Philadelphia was represented by the Washington Grays in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. The African-American population of Philadelphia increased from 31,699 to 219,559 between 1880 and 1930. Twentieth-century black newcomers were part of the Great Migration out of the rural south to northern and midwestern industrial cities.


20th century

By the 20th century, Philadelphia had an entrenched Republican
political machine In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
and a complacent population. The first major reform came in 1917 when outrage over the election-year murder of a police officer led to the shrinking of the
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
from two houses to just one. In July 1919, Philadelphia was one of more than 36 industrial cities nationally to suffer a race riot of ethnic whites against blacks during Red Summer, in post-World War I unrest, as recent immigrants competed with blacks for jobs. In the 1920s, the public flouting of
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
laws,
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, mob violence, and police involvement in illegal activities led to the appointment of
Brig. Gen. Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...
Smedley Butler of the
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
as director of public safety, but political pressure prevented any long-term success in fighting crime and corruption. In 1940, non-Hispanic whites constituted 86.8% of the city's population. The population peaked at more than two million residents in 1950, then began to decline with the restructuring of industry, which led to the loss of many middle-class union jobs. In addition, suburbanization had enticed many of the more affluent residents to outlying railroad commuting towns and newer housing. The resulting reduction in Philadelphia's tax base and the resources of local government caused the city to struggle through a long period of adjustment, with it approaching bankruptcy by the late 1980s. Revitalization and
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
of neighborhoods began in the late 1970s and continues into the 21st century, with much of the development occurring in the Center City and University City neighborhoods, while simultaneously exacerbating a shortage of affordable housing in Philadelphia. After many of the old manufacturers and businesses left Philadelphia or shut down, the city started attracting service businesses and began to market itself more aggressively as a tourist destination. Contemporary glass-and-granite skyscrapers were built in Center City beginning in the 1980s. Historic areas such as
Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...
and Society Hill were renovated during the reformist mayoral era of the 1950s through the 1980s, making those areas among the most desirable neighborhoods in Center City. Many immigrants from around the world began to enter the U.S. through Philadelphia as their gateway. These developments led to a reversal of the city's population decline between 1950 and 2000, during which it lost about 25 percent of its residents.


21st century

Philadelphia eventually began experiencing a growth in its population in 2007, which continued with gradual yearly increases through the present. Although Philadelphia is rapidly undergoing
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
, the city maintains strategies to minimize displacement of homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods.


Geography


Topography

The geographic center of Philadelphia is about 40° 0′ 34″ north latitude and 75° 8′ 0″ west longitude. The
40th parallel north The 40th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 40 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the sun is vis ...
passes through neighborhoods in
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
, North Philadelphia, and West Philadelphia including
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
. The city encompasses , of which is land and , or 6%, is water. Natural bodies of water include the
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and Schuylkill rivers, the lakes in
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park (originally named League Island Park) is a park located along the Delaware River in the southernmost point of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comprising some which includes a golf course (closed and conver ...
, and Cobbs,
Wissahickon Wissahickon may refer to the following in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania: *Wissahickon, Philadelphia, a section or neighborhood of Philadelphia *Wissahickon Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River **Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, spans the above c ...
, and Pennypack creeks. The largest artificial body of water is the East Park Reservoir in Fairmount Park. The lowest point is sea level, while the highest point is in Chestnut Hill, about above sea level on Summit Street near the intersection of
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ger ...
Avenue and Bethlehem Pike (example coordinates near high point: 40.07815 N, 75.20747 W). Philadelphia is situated on the
Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...
that separates the
Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
from the
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
. The rapids on the Schuylkill River at
East Falls East Falls (also The Falls, formerly the Falls of Schuylkill) is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It lies on the east bank of the "Falls of the Schuylkill," cataracts submerged in 1 ...
were inundated by the completion of the dam at the Fairmount Water Works. The city is the seat of its own county. The adjacent counties are Montgomery to the northwest;
Bucks Bucks may refer to: Places * Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks * Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...
to the north and northeast;
Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.
, to the east; Camden County, New Jersey, to the southeast; Gloucester County, New Jersey, to the south; and Delaware County to the southwest.


Cityscape


City planning

Philadelphia's central city was created in the 17th century following the plan by
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
's surveyor Thomas Holme. Center City is structured with long, straight streets running nearly due east–west and north–south, forming a grid pattern between the
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and Schuylkill rivers that is aligned with their courses. The original city plan was designed to allow for easy travel and to keep residences separated by open space that would help prevent the spread of fire. In keeping with the idea of a "Greene Countrie Towne", and inspired by the many types of trees that grew in the region, Penn named many of the east–west streets for local trees. Penn planned the creation of five public parks in the city which were renamed in 1824 (new names in parentheses): Centre Square (Penn Square), Northeast Square ( Franklin Square), Southeast Square ( Washington Square), Southwest Square ( Rittenhouse Square), and Northwest Square ( Logan Circle/Square). Center City had an estimated 183,240 residents , making it the second-most populated downtown area in the United States, after
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
in New York City. Philadelphia's neighborhoods are divided into large sections—
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
,
Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
,
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, Southwest,
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, and
Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
—surrounding Center City, which correspond closely with the city's limits before consolidation in 1854. Each of these large areas contains numerous neighborhoods, some of whose boundaries derive from the boroughs, townships, and other communities that constituted Philadelphia County before their inclusion within the city. The City Planning Commission, tasked with guiding growth and development of the city, has divided the city into 18 planning districts as part of the ''Philadelphia2035'' physical development plan. Much of the city's 1980 zoning code was overhauled from 2007 to 2012 as part of a joint effort between former mayors
John F. Street John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginn ...
and
Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...
. The zoning changes were intended to rectify incorrect zoning maps to facilitate future community development, as the city forecasts an additional 100,000 residents and 40,000 jobs will be added by 2035. The
Philadelphia Housing Authority The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is a municipal authority providing Public housing services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the fourth-largest housing authority in the United States and is the largest landlord in Pennsylvania. PHA ho ...
(PHA) is the largest landlord in Pennsylvania. Established in 1937, the PHA is the nation's fourth-largest housing authority, serving about 81,000 people with affordable housing, while employing 1,400 on a budget of $371 million. The
Philadelphia Parking Authority The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that manages many parking operations for Philadelphia. The PPA was created by the Philadelphia City Council on January 11, 1950, for the purpose of condu ...
works to ensure adequate parking for city residents, businesses, and visitors.


Architecture

Philadelphia's architectural history dates back to colonial times and includes a wide range of styles. The earliest structures were constructed with logs, but brick structures were common by 1700. During the 18th century, the cityscape was dominated by
Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...
, including Independence Hall and Christ Church. In the first decades of the 19th century,
Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
and
Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
were the dominant styles produced by Philadelphia architects such as
Benjamin Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...
, William Strickland, John Haviland,
John Notman John Notman (22 July 18103 March 1865) was a Scottish-born American architect, who settled in Philadelphia. He is remembered for his churches, and for popularizing the Italianate style and the use of brownstone. Career Notman was born on 22 Jul ...
, Thomas Walter, and Samuel Sloan. Frank Furness is considered Philadelphia's greatest architect of the second half of the 19th century. His contemporaries included John McArthur Jr., Addison Hutton, Wilson Eyre, the Wilson Brothers & Company, Wilson Brothers, and Horace Trumbauer. In 1871, construction began on the Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada, Second Empire-style Philadelphia City Hall. The Philadelphia Historical Commission was created in 1955 to preserve the cultural and architectural history of the city. The commission maintains the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, adding historic buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts as it sees fit. In 1932, Philadelphia became home to the first modern International Style (architecture), International Style skyscraper in the United States, the PSFS Building, designed by George Howe (architect), George Howe and William Lescaze. The City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until 1987 when Liberty Place#One Liberty Place, One Liberty Place was completed. Numerous glass and granite skyscrapers were built in Center City beginning in the late 1980s. In 2007, the Comcast Center surpassed One Liberty Place to become the city's tallest building. The Comcast Technology Center was completed in 2018, reaching a height of , as the List of tallest buildings in the United States, tallest building in the United States outside of Manhattan and Chicago. For much of Philadelphia's history, the typical home has been the Terraced house, row house. The row house was introduced to the United States via Philadelphia in the early 19th century and, for a time, row houses built elsewhere in the United States were known as "Philadelphia rows". A variety of row houses are found throughout the city, from Federal-style continuous blocks in
Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...
and Society Hill to Victorian-style homes in North Philadelphia to twin row houses in West Philadelphia. While newer homes have been built recently, much of the housing dates to the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, which has created problems such as urban decay and vacant lots. Some neighborhoods, including Northern Liberties, Philadelphia, Northern Liberties and Society Hill, have been rehabilitated through
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
. File:Elfreth's Alley, Philadelphia, 2008.jpg, Elfreth's Alley, "Our nation's oldest residential street", 1702–1836Historical marker on Elfreth's Alley File:Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, USA, May 2015.jpg, Carpenters' Hall exhibiting
Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...
, 1770–1774 File:Second Bank of the United States with Robert Morris, Jr. statue, Philadelphia.jpg, Second Bank of the United States exhibiting
Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
, 1818–1824 File:City hall Philadelphia.jpg, Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada, Second Empire-style Philadelphia City Hall, 1871–1901, from South Broad Street (Philadelphia), Broad Street File:Thirty St Station.jpg, The Art Deco-style concourse, grand concourse at
30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
, 1927–1933


Parks

, the total city parkland, including municipal, state and federal parks within the city limits, amounts to . Philadelphia's largest park is
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
which includes the Philadelphia Zoo and encompasses of the total parkland, while the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park contains . Fairmount Park, when combined with Wissahickon Valley Park, is one of the largest contiguous
urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
areas in the United States. The two parks, along with the Colonial Revival architecture, Colonial Revival, Georgian architecture, Georgian and
Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
-style List of houses in Fairmount Park, mansions contained in them, have been listed as one entity on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.


Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Philadelphia falls under the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen ''Cfa''), whereas according to the Trewartha climate classification, the city has a temperate maritime climate (''Do'') limited to the north by the continental climate (''Dc''). Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is moderately cold. The plant life hardiness zone#Selected U.S. cities, hardiness zones are 7a and 7b, representing an average annual extreme minimum temperature between . Snowfall is highly variable, with some winters experiencing only light snow, while others include major snowstorms. The normal seasonal snowfall averages , with rare snowfalls in November or April, and rarely any sustained snow cover. Seasonal snowfall accumulation has ranged from trace amounts in 1972–73 to in the winter of 2009–10. The city's North American blizzard of 1996#Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, heaviest single-storm snowfall was which occurred in January 1996. Precipitation is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to eleven wet days per month, at an average annual rate of , but historically ranging from in 1922 to in 2011. The most rain recorded in one day occurred on July 28, 2013, when fell at
Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
. Philadelphia has a moderately sunny climate with an average of 2,498 Sunshine duration, hours of sunshine annually, and a percentage of sunshine ranging from 47% in December to 61% in June, July, and August. The January daily average temperature is , though the temperature frequently rises to during thaws and dips to for 2 or 3 nights in a normal winter. July averages , although heat waves accompanied by high humidity and heat index, heat indices are frequent, with highs reaching or exceeding on 30 days of the year. The average window for freezing temperatures is November 6 thru April 2, allowing a growing season of 217 days. Early fall and late winter are generally dry with February having the lowest average precipitation at . The dewpoint in the summer averages between . The highest recorded temperature was on August 7, 1918, but temperatures at or above are not common, with the last occurrence of such a temperature was July 21, 2019. The lowest officially recorded temperature was on February 9, 1934. Temperatures at or below are rare with the last such occurrence being 1994 North American cold wave, January 19, 1994. The record low maximum is on February 10, 1899, and December 30, 1880, while the record high minimum is on July 23, 2011, and July 24, 2010.


Air quality

Philadelphia County received an ozone grade of F and a 24-hour Particulates, particle pollution rating of D in the American Lung Association's 2017 State of the Air report, which analyzed data from 2013 to 2015. The city was ranked 22nd for ozone, 20th for short-term particle pollution, and 11th for year-round particle pollution. According to the same report, the city experienced a significant reduction in high ozone days since 2001—from nearly 50 days per year to fewer than 10—along with fewer days of high particle pollution since 2000—from about 19 days per year to about 3—and an approximate 30% reduction in annual levels of particle pollution since 2000. Five of the ten largest Combined statistical area#List of combined statistical areas, combined statistical areas (CSAs) were ranked higher for ozone: Los Angeles (1st), New York City (9th), Houston (12th), Dallas (13th), and San Jose, California, San Jose (18th). Many smaller CSAs were also ranked higher for ozone including Sacramento, California, Sacramento (8th), Las Vegas (10th), Denver (11th), El Paso, Texas, El Paso (16th), and Salt Lake City (20th); however, only two of those same ten CSAs—San Jose and Los Angeles—were ranked higher than Philadelphia for both year-round and short-term particle pollution.


Demographics

According to the 2020 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's tabulation, there were 1,603,797 people residing in Philadelphia, representing a 1.2% increase from the 2019 census estimate. The racial composition of the city was 39.3% Black alone (42.0% Black alone or in combination), 36.3% White alone (41.9% White alone or in combination), 8.7% Asian alone, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 8.7% some other race, and 6.9% multiracial. 14.9% of residents were Hispanic or Latino. 34.8% had a Bachelor's degree or higher. 23.9% spoke a language other than English at home, the most common of which was Spanish (10.8%). 15.0% of the populations foreign born, roughly have of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens. 3.7% of the population are veterans. The median household income was $52,889 and 22.8% of the population lived in poverty. 49.5% of the population drove alone to work, while 23.2% used public transit, 8.2% carpooled, 7.9% walked, and 7.0% worked from home. The average commute is 31 minutes. After the 1950 United States census, 1950 census, when a record high of 2,071,605 was recorded, the city's population began a long decline. The population dropped to a low of 1,488,710 residents in 2006 before beginning to rise again. Between 2006 and 2017, Philadelphia added 92,153 residents. In 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the racial composition of the city was 41.3% Black (non-Hispanic), 34.9% White (non-Hispanic), 14.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.1% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, and 2.8% multiracial. The 2010 United States census, 2010 census redistricting data indicated that the racial makeup of the city was 644,287 (42.2%) African Americans, Black (non-Hispanic), 562,585 (36.9%) White Americans, White (non-Hispanic), 96,405 (6.3%) Asian Americans, Asian (2.0% Chinese Americans, Chinese, 1.2% Indian Americans, Indian, 0.9% Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese, 0.4% Korean Americans, Korean, 0.3% Filipino Americans, Filipino, 0.1% Japanese Americans, Japanese, and 1.4% other), 6,996 (0.5%) Native Americans, 744 (0.05%) Pacific Islands Americans, Pacific Islanders, and 43,070 (2.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanics or Latino (U.S. Census), Latinos of any race were 187,611 persons (12.3%); 8.0% Puerto Ricans in the United States, Puerto Rican, 1.0% Mexican Americans, Mexican, 0.3% Cuban Americans, Cuban, and 3.0% other. The racial breakdown of Philadelphia's Hispanic/Latino population was 63,636 (33.9%) White, 17,552 (9.4%) Black, 3,498 (1.9%) Native American, 884 (0.47%) Asian, 287 (0.15%) Pacific Islander, 86,626 (46.2%) from other races, and 15,128 (8.1%) from two or more races. The five largest European ancestries reported in the 2010 census included Irish Americans, Irish (13.0%), Italian Americans, Italian (8.3%), German Americans, German (8.2%), Polish Americans, Polish (3.9%), and English Americans, English (3.1%). The estimated average population density was 11,782 people per square mile (4,549/km) in 2017. In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 1,468,623 people (96.2% of the population) lived in households, 38,007 (2.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 19,376 (1.3%) were institutionalized. In 2013, the city reported having 668,247 total housing units, down slightly from 670,171 housing units in 2010. , 87 percent of housing units were occupied, while 13 percent were vacant, a slight change from 2010 where 89.5 percent of units were occupied, or 599,736 and 10.5 percent were vacant, or 70,435. Of the city's residents, 32 percent reported having no vehicles available while 23 percent had two or more vehicles available, . In 2010, 24.9 percent of households reported having children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.3 percent were married couples living together and 22.5 percent had a female householder with no husband present, 6.0 percent had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.2 percent were non-families. The city reported 34.1 percent of all households were individuals living alone, while 10.5 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.20. In 2013, the percentage of women who gave birth in the previous 12 months who were unmarried was 56 percent. Of Philadelphia's adults, 31 percent were married or lived as a couple, 55 percent were not married, 11 percent were divorced or separated, and 3 percent were widowed. According to the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in 2013 was $36,836, down 7.9 percent from 2008 when the inflation-adjusted median household income was $40,008 (in 2013 dollars). For comparison, on an inflation-adjusted basis, the median household income among metropolitan areas was $60,482, down 8.2 percent in the same period, and the national median household income was $55,250, down 7.0 percent from 2008. The city's wealth disparity is evident when neighborhoods are compared. Residents in Society Hill had a 2013 median household income of $93,720, while residents in one of North Philadelphia's districts reported the lowest median household income, $14,185. More recently, Philadelphia has experienced a large shift toward a younger age profile. In 2000, the city's population pyramid had a largely stationary shape. In 2013, the city took on an expansive pyramid shape, with an increase in the three millennials, millennial age groups, 20 to 24, 25 to 29, and 30 to 34. The city's 25- to 29-year-old age group was the city's largest age cohort. According to the 2010 census, 343,837 (22.5%) were under the age of 18; 203,697 (13.3%) from 18 to 24; 434,385 (28.5%) from 25 to 44; 358,778 (23.5%) from 45 to 64; and 185,309 (12.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males; while among individuals age 18 and over, for every 100 females, there were 85.7 males. The city had 22,018 births in 2013, down from a peak 23,689 births in 2008. Philadelphia's death rate was at its lowest in at least a half-century, 13,691 deaths in 2013.


Immigration and cultural diversity

Apart from economic growth, another factor contributing to the population increase is Philadelphia's rising immigration rate. Like the millennial population, Philadelphia's immigrant population is also growing rapidly. According to research by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the city's foreign born, foreign-born population had increased by 69% between 2000 and 2016 to constitute nearly 20% of Philadelphia's work force, and had doubled between 1990 and 2017 to constitute 13.8% of the city's total population, with the top five countries of origin being China by a significant margin, followed by the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, India, and Vietnam. Irish, Italian, German, Poles, Polish, English, Russian, Ukrainians, Ukrainian, and French constitute the largest European emigration, European ethnic groups in the city. Philadelphia has the second-largest Irish and Italian populations in the United States, after New York City. South Philadelphia remains one of the largest Italian-American, Italian neighborhoods in the country and is home to the Italian Market, Philadelphia, Italian Market. The Pennsport, Philadelphia, Pennsport neighborhood and Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, Gray's Ferry section of South Philadelphia, home to many Mummers Parade, Mummer clubs, are well known as Irish-American, Irish neighborhoods. The Kensington, Philadelphia, Kensington, Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Port Richmond, and Fishtown neighborhoods have historically been heavily Irish and Polish. Port Richmond is well known in particular as the center of the Polish immigrant and Polish-American community in Philadelphia, and it remains a common destination for Polish immigrants.
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
, although known for its Irish and Irish-American population, is also home to a large Jewish-American, Jewish and Russian population. Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Mount Airy in Northwest Philadelphia also contains a large Jewish community, while nearby Chestnut Hill is historically known as an White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, Anglo-Saxon Protestant community. Philadelphia has a significant gay and lesbian population. Philadelphia's Gay village, Gayborhood, which is near Washington Square, is home to a large concentration of gay and lesbian friendly businesses, restaurants, and bars. The African Americans, Black American population in Philadelphia is the third-largest in the country, after New York City and Chicago. West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia are largely African-American neighborhoods, but many are leaving those areas in favor of the Northeast and Southwest sections of Philadelphia. A higher proportion of African-American Muslims reside in Philadelphia than in most other cities in America. West Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia are also home to various significant West Indian Americans, Afro-Caribbean and African immigration to the United States, African immigrant communities. The Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia, Puerto Rican population in Philadelphia is the second-largest on the mainland United States after New York City, and the second-fastest growing after Orlando. Eastern North Philadelphia, particularly Fairhill, Philadelphia, Fairhill and surrounding areas to the north and east, has one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans outside Puerto Rico, with many large swaths of blocks being close to 100% Puerto Rican. Large Puerto Rican and Dominican Americans, Dominican populations reside in North Philadelphia and the Northeast. In regard to other Latin American populations in Philadelphia, there are significant Mexican American, Mexican and Central American populations in South Philadelphia. Philadelphia's Asian Americans, Asian American population originates mainly from China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and the Philippines. Over 35,000 Chinese Americans lived in the city in 2015, including a large Fuzhounese Americans, Fuzhounese population. Center City hosts a growing Chinatown, Philadelphia, Chinatown accommodating heavily traveled Chinatown bus lines, Chinese-owned bus lines to and from Chinatown, Manhattan in Chinese in New York City, New York City, 95 miles to the north, as Philadelphia is experiencing significant Chinese emigration, Chinese immigration from New York City. A large Korean community initially settled in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney, Philadelphia, Olney; however, the primary Koreatown, Philadelphia, Koreatown has subsequently shifted northward, straddling the border with the adjacent suburb of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, Cheltenham in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, while also growing in nearby Cherry Hill, New Jersey. South Philadelphia is also home to large Cambodian Americans, Cambodian, Vietnamese-American, Vietnamese, Thai Americans, Thai, and Chinese communities.


Religion

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 68% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christianity, Christian. Approximately 41% of Christians in the city and area professed attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestantism, Protestant, while 26% professed Catholic Church, Catholic beliefs. The Protestant Christian community in Philadelphia is dominated by Mainline Protestant, mainline Protestant denominations including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church in the United States, Presbyterian Church (USA) and American Baptist Churches USA. One of the most prominent mainline Protestant jurisdictions is the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The
African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...
was established in Philadelphia. Historically, the city has strong connections to the Quakers, Unitarian Universalism, and the Ethical movement, Ethical Culture movement, all of which continue to be represented in the city. The Quaker Friends General Conference is based in Philadelphia. Evangelical Protestants making up less than 15% of the population were also prevalent. Evangelical Protestant bodies included the Anglican Church in North America, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, and National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc., National Baptist Convention of America. The Catholic community is primarily served by the Latin Church, Latin Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of the United States of America and Canada, though some Independent Catholicism, independent Catholic churches exist throughout Philadelphia and its suburbs. The Latin Church-based jurisdiction is headquartered in the city, and its see is the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (Philadelphia), Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The Ukrainian Catholic jurisdiction is also headquartered in Philadelphia, and is seated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Philadelphia), Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Less than 1% of Philadelphia's Christians were Mormons. The remainder of the Christian demographic is spread among smaller Protestant denominations and the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox among others. The Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania, Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania (Orthodox Church in America) and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarchate) divide the Eastern Orthodox in Philadelphia. The Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox St. Andrew's Cathedral, Philadelphia, St. Andrew's Cathedral is in the city. The same study says that other religions collectively compose about 8% of the population, including Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Philadelphia has the fifth largest Muslim population among American cities. The remaining 24% claimed Irreligion, no religious affiliation. The Philadelphia List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, metropolitan area's History of the Jews in Philadelphia, Jewish population was estimated at 206,000 in 2001, which was the sixth largest in the United States at that time. Jewish traders were operating in southeastern Pennsylvania long before
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
. Furthermore, Jews in Philadelphia took a prominent part in the American Revolutionary War, War of Independence. Although the majority of the early Jewish residents were of Portuguese or Spanish descent, some among them had emigrated from Germany and Poland. About the beginning of the 19th century, a number of Jews from the latter countries, finding the services of the Congregation Mikveh Israel, Congregation Mickvé Israel unfamiliar to them, resolved to form a new congregation which would use the ritual to which they had been accustomed. Afro-American religion, African diasporic religions are practiced in some Latino and Hispanic and Caribbean communities in North and West Philadelphia.


Languages

, 79.12% (1,112,441) of Philadelphia residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 9.72% (136,688) spoke Spanish, 1.64% (23,075) Chinese, 0.89% (12,499) Vietnamese language, Vietnamese, 0.77% (10,885) Russian, 0.66% (9,240) French, 0.61% (8,639) Languages of Asia, other Asian languages, 0.58% (8,217) Languages of Africa, African languages, 0.56% (7,933) Cambodian language, Cambodian (Austroasiatic languages, Mon-Khmer), and Italian was spoken as a main language by 0.55% (7,773) of the population over the age of five. In total, 20.88% (293,544) of Philadelphia's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.


Economy

Philadelphia’s close geographical and transportation connections to other large metropolitan economies along the East Coast of the United States, Eastern Seaboard of the United States have been cited as offering a significant competitive advantage for business creation and entrepreneurship. The city is the center of economic activity in both
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and the four-state
Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...
metropolitan region. Five
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
companies are headquartered in the city. , the Philadelphia metropolitan area is estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of US$479 billion, an increase from the $445 billion calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis for 2017, representing the List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, ninth largest U.S. metropolitan economy. Philadelphia's economic sectors include financial services, health care,
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
, information technology, trade and transportation, manufacturing, Oil refinery, oil refining, food processing, and tourism. Financial activities account for the largest economic sector of the metropolitan area, which is also one of the largest health education and research centers in the United States. The city's two largest employers are the federal and city governments. Philadelphia's largest private employer is the University of Pennsylvania, followed by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A study commissioned by the city's government in 2011 projected 40,000 jobs would be added to the city within 25 years, raising the number of jobs from 675,000 in 2010 to an estimated 715,000 by 2035.


Corporations

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, acquired by
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
in 2007, tracks the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, known in financial circles as the SOX. The city is also home to the headquarters of cable television and internet service provider Comcast, insurance companies Cigna, Colonial Penn, and Independence Blue Cross, food services company Aramark, chemical makers FMC Corporation and Rohm and Haas, pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline, Amicus Therapeutics, Spark Therapeutics, apparel retailers Five Below and Urban Outfitters and its subsidiary Anthropologie, automotive parts retailer Pep Boys, and stainless steel producer Carpenter Technology Corporation. Other corporation headquarters in the city include RiteAid, Crown Holdings, and Brandywine Realty Trust. The headquarters of Boeing Rotorcraft Systems and its main rotorcraft factory are in the Philadelphia suburb of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, Ridley Park; The Vanguard Group and the U.S. headquarters of Siemens Healthineers are headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb; healthcare conglomerate AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in suburban Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; and the Campbell Soup Company and automobile manufacturer Subaru, Subaru USA are headquartered across the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
in adjacent Camden, New Jersey, Camden, New Jersey.


Tech and biotech

Philadelphia is a hub for information technology and
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
. Philadelphia and Pennsylvania are attracting new life sciences ventures.
Accessed April 18, 2019.
The Philadelphia metropolitan area, comprising the Delaware Valley, has also become a growing hub for
venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
funding.


Tourism

Philadelphia's history attracts many tourists, with the Independence National Historical Park (which includes the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
, Independence Hall, and other historic sites) receiving over 5 million visitors in 2016. The city welcomed 42 million domestic tourists in 2016 who spent $6.8 billion, generating an estimated $11 billion in total economic impact in the city and surrounding four counties of Pennsylvania. The annual World Naked Bike Ride, Naked Bike Ride attracts participants from around the United States and internationally to Philadelphia.


Trade and transportation

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
is undergoing a $900 million infrastructure, infrastructural expansion to increase passenger capacity and augment passenger experience; while the Port of Philadelphia, having experienced the highest percentage growth by Twenty-foot equivalent unit, tonnage loaded in 2017 among major U.S. seaports, was in the process of doubling its shipping tonnage, capacity to accommodate super-sized post-Panamax shipping vessels in 2018. Philadelphia's
30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
is the third-busiest Amtrak rail hub, following Pennsylvania Station (New York), Penn Station in Manhattan and Washington Union Station, Union Station in Washington, D.C., transporting over 4 million inter-city rail passengers annually.


Education


Primary and secondary education

Education in Philadelphia is provided by many private and public institutions. The School District of Philadelphia is the local school district, operating Public school (government funded), public schools, in all of the city. The Philadelphia School District is the eighth largest school district in the United States with 142,266 students in 218 traditional public schools and 86 charter schools . The city's K-12 enrollment in district–run schools dropped from 156,211 students in 2010 to 130,104 students in 2015. During the same time period, the enrollment in charter schools increased from 33,995 students in 2010 to 62,358 students in 2015. This consistent drop in enrollment led the city to close 24 of its public schools in 2013. During the 2014 school year, the city spent an average of $12,570 per pupil, below the average among comparable urban school districts. Graduation rates among district-run schools, meanwhile, steadily increased in the ten years from 2005. In 2005, Philadelphia had a district graduation rate of 52%. This number increased to 65% in 2014, still below the national and state averages. Scores on the state's standardized test, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) trended upward from 2005 to 2011 but subsequently decreased. In 2005, the district-run schools scored an average of 37.4% on math and 35.5% on reading. The city's schools reached their peak scores in 2011 with 59.0% on math and 52.3% on reading. In 2014, the scores dropped significantly to 45.2% on math and 42.0% on reading. Of the city's public high schools, including charter schools, only four performed above the national average on the SAT (1497 out of 2400) in 2014: Julia R. Masterman School, Masterman, Central High School (Philadelphia), Central, Girard Academic Music Program, and MaST Community Charter School. All other district-run schools were below average.


Higher education

Medical and research facilities of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Philadelphia has the third-largest student concentration on the East Coast of the United States, East Coast, with more than 120,000 college and university students enrolled within the city and nearly 300,000 in the metropolitan area. More than 80 colleges, universities, trade, and specialty schools are in the Philadelphia region. One of the founding members of the Association of American Universities is in the city, the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution with claims to be the First university in the United States. The city's largest university, as noted by number of students, is Temple University, followed by Drexel University. The University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, and Thomas Jefferson University comprise the city's nationally ranked research universities. Philadelphia is also home to five schools of medicine: Drexel University College of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, and Thomas Jefferson University's Thomas Jefferson University, Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Hospitals, universities, and higher education research institutions in Philadelphia's four congressional districts received more than $252 million in National Institutes of Health grants in 2015. Other institutions of higher learning within the city's borders include: * Chestnut Hill College * Community College of Philadelphia * Curtis Institute of Music * Holy Family University * La Salle University * Moore College of Art and Design * Peirce College * Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts * Saint Joseph's University * Spells Writing Lab, Inc. * The Art Institutes#Locations, The Art Institute of Philadelphia * The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College * University of the Arts (Philadelphia), University of the Arts * University of the Sciences


Culture

Philadelphia is home to many National Historic Site (United States), national historical sites that relate to the founding of the United States. Independence National Historical Park is the center of these historical landmarks being one of the country's 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence ...
are the city's most famous attractions. Other national historic sites include the homes of Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, Edgar Allan Poe and Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, early government buildings like the First Bank of the United States, First and the Second Bank of the United States, Fort Mifflin, and the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church. Philadelphia alone has 67 National Historic Landmarks, the third most of any city in the country. Philadelphia's major science museums include the Franklin Institute, which contains the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial; the Academy of Natural Sciences; the Mütter Museum; and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. History museums include the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, the Philadelphia History Museum, the National Museum of American Jewish History, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania in the Masonic Temple (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Masonic Temple, and the Eastern State Penitentiary. Philadelphia is home to the United States's first
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...
and
hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
, as well as
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
, one of America's oldest and largest urban parks, founded in 1855. The city is home to important archival repositories, including the Library Company of Philadelphia, established in 1731 by
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, founded in 1814. The Presbyterian Historical Society is the country's oldest denominational historical society, organized in 1852.


Arts

The city contains many art museums, such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Rodin Museum, which holds the largest collection of work by Auguste Rodin outside France. The city's major art museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is one of the List of largest art museums, largest art museums in the world. The long flight of Rocky Steps, steps to the Art Museum's main entrance became famous after the film ''Rocky'' (1976). Areas such as South Street and Old City have a vibrant night life. The Avenue of the Arts (Philadelphia), Avenue of the Arts in Center City contains many restaurants and theaters, such as the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Academy of Music (Philadelphia), Academy of Music, home of Opera Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet. The Wilma Theater (Philadelphia), Wilma Theatre and the Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre produce a variety of new plays. Several blocks to the east are the Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia), St. Stephens Episcopal Church; and the Walnut Street Theatre, a National Historic Landmark stated to be the oldest and most subscribed-to theater (structure), theatre in the English-speaking world, founded in 1809."Walnut Street Theatre Historical Marker"
''ExplorePAhistory.com''. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
In May 2019, the Walnut Street Theatre announced a major expansion to begin in 2020. Philadelphia has more public art than any other American city. In 1872, the Association for Public Art (formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association) was created as the first private association in the United States dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning. In 1959, lobbying by the Artists Equity Association helped create the Percent for Art Law, ordinance, the first for a U.S. city. The program, which has funded more than 200 pieces of public art, is administered by the Philadelphia Office of Arts and Culture, the city's art agency. The city also has more murals than any other American city, due to the 1984 creation of the Department of Recreation's Mural Arts Program, which seeks to beautify neighborhoods and provide an outlet for graffiti artists. The program has funded more than 2,800 murals by professional, staff and volunteer artists and educated more than 20,000 youth in underserved neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. The city is home to a number of art organizations including the regional art advocacy nonprofit Philadelphia Tri-State Artists Equity, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, one of the country's oldest artists' clubs, and The Plastic Club, started by women excluded from the Sketch Club. Many
Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...
art galleries stay open late on the First Friday (public event), First Friday event of each month. Annual events include Philadelphia Film Festival, film festivals and parades, the most famous being the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Mummers Parade on New Year's Day.


Music

The Philadelphia Orchestra is generally considered one of the Big Five (orchestras), top five orchestras in the United States. The orchestra performs at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Kimmel Center and has a summer concert series at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Opera Philadelphia performs at the nation's oldest continually operating opera house—the Academy of Music (Philadelphia), Academy of Music. The Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale has performed its music all over the world. The Philly Pops plays orchestral versions of popular jazz, swing music, swing, Broadway theatre, Broadway, and blues songs at the Kimmel Center and other venues within the Mid-Atlantic (United States), mid-Atlantic region. The Curtis Institute of Music is one of the world's premier music school, conservatories and among the most selective institutes of higher education in the nation. Philadelphia has played a prominent role in the music of the United States. The culture of American popular music has been influenced by significant contributions of Philadelphia area musicians and producers, in both the recording and broadcasting industries. In 1952, the teen dance party program called ''Bandstand'' premiered on local television, hosted by Bob Horn (broadcaster), Bob Horn. The show was renamed ''American Bandstand'' in 1957, when it began national syndication on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, hosted by Dick Clark and produced in Philadelphia until 1964 when it moved to Los Angeles. Promoters marketed youthful musical artists known as teen idols to appeal to the young audience. Philadelphia-born singers such as Frankie Avalon, James Darren, Eddie Fisher (singer), Eddie Fisher, Fabian Forte, and Bobby Rydell, along with South Philadelphia, South Philly-raised Chubby Checker, topped the music charts, establishing a clean-cut rock and roll image. Philadelphia soul, Philly soul music of the late 1960s–1970s is a highly produced version of soul music which led to later forms of popular music such as disco and urban contemporary rhythm and blues. On July 13, 1985, John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia), John F. Kennedy Stadium was the American venue for the Live Aid concert."Live Aid 1985: A day of magic"
CNN. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
The city also hosted the Live 8 concert, which attracted about 700,000 people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on July 2, 2005. Notable rock and pop musicians from Philadelphia and its suburbs include Bill Haley & His Comets, Nazz, Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates, The Hooters, Cinderella (band), Cinderella, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Ween, Schoolly D, Pink (singer), Pink, The Roots, Beanie Sigel, State Property (band), State Property, Lisa Lopes, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Meek Mill, Lil Uzi Vert, and others.


Cuisine

The city is known for its Submarine sandwich, hoagies, Stromboli (food), stromboli, roast pork sandwich, scrapple, pretzel#Pennsylvania, soft pretzels, Italian ice, water ice, Irish potato candy, tastykakes, and the cheesesteak sandwich which was developed by Italian immigrants. The Philadelphia area has many establishments that serve cheesesteaks, including restaurants, taverns, delicatessens and pizza parlors. The originator of the thinly-sliced steak sandwich in the 1930s, initially without cheese, is Pat's King of Steaks, which faces its rival Geno's Steaks, founded in 1966, across the intersection of 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue in the Italian Market, Philadelphia, Italian Market of South Philadelphia. McGillin's Olde Ale House, opened in 1860 on Drury Street in Center City, is the oldest continuously operated tavern in the city. The City Tavern is a replica of a historic 18th-century building first opened in 1773, demolished in 1854 after a fire, and rebuilt in 1975 on the same site as part of Independence National Historical Park. The tavern offers authentic 18th-century recipes, served in seven period dining rooms, three wine cellar rooms and an outdoor garden. The Reading Terminal Market is a historic Marketplace, food market founded in 1893 in the Reading Terminal building, a designated National Historic Landmark. The enclosed market is one of the oldest and largest markets in the country, hosting over a hundred merchants offering Pennsylvania Dutch specialties, artisan cheese and meat, locally grown groceries, and specialty and ethnic foods.


Dialect

The traditional Philadelphia accent is considered by some linguists to be the most distinctive accent in North America.New York Times Sunday Review, Loose Ends
"The Sound of Philadelphia Fades Out" Daniel Nester March 1, 2014
The Philadelphia dialect, which is spread throughout the
Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...
and South Jersey, is part of a larger Mid-Atlantic American English family, a designation that also includes the Baltimore dialect. Additionally, it shares many similarities with the New York accent. Owing to over a century of linguistic data collected by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania under sociolinguist William Labov, the Philadelphia dialect has been one of the best-studied forms of American English. The accent is especially found within the Irish American and Italian American working-class neighborhoods. Philadelphia also has its own unique collection of neologisms and slang terms.


Sports

Philadelphia's first professional sports team was baseball's Philadelphia Athletics (1860–1876), Athletics, organized in 1860. The Athletics were initially an National Association of Base Ball Players, amateur league team that National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, turned professional in 1871, and then became a founding team of the current National League in 1876. The city is one of 13 U.S. cities to have teams in U.S. cities with teams from four major league sports, all four major league sports: the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL), the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Phillies, formed in 1883 as the Quakers and renamed in 1884, are the oldest team continuously playing under the same name in the same city in the history of American professional sports. The Philadelphia metro area is also home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS). The Union began playing their home games in 2010 at PPL Corporation, PPL Park, a soccer-specific stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The stadium's name was changed to Talen Energy Stadium in 2016 and to Subaru Park in 2020. Philadelphia was the second of eight American cities to have won titles in all four major leagues (MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA), and also has a title in soccer (from the now-defunct North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League in the 1970s). The city's professional teams and their fans endured 25 years without a championship, from the 76ers 1983 NBA Finals win until the Phillies 2008 World Series win. The lack of championships was sometimes attributed in jest to the Curse of Billy Penn after Liberty Place#One Liberty Place, One Liberty Place became the first building to surpass the height of the
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
statue on top of Philadelphia City Hall, City Hall's tower in 1987. After nine years passed without another championship, the Eagles won their first Super Bowl LII, Super Bowl following the 2017 NFL season, 2017 season. In 2004, ESPN placed Philadelphia second on its list of The Fifteen Most Tortured Sports Cities. Fans of the Eagles and Phillies were singled out as the worst fans in the country by ''GQ'' magazine in 2011, which used the subtitle of "Meanest Fans in America" to summarize incidents of drunken behavior and a history of booing. Major professional sports teams that originated in Philadelphia but which later moved to other cities include the Golden State Warriors basketball team—in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1962—and the Oakland Athletics baseball team—originally the History of the Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1954 (a different Athletics team than the one mentioned above). Philadelphia is home to professional, semi-professional, and elite amateur teams in cricket, rugby league (Philadelphia Fight), and rugby union. Major running events in the city include the Penn Relays (track and field), the Philadelphia Marathon, and the Broad Street Run. The Collegiate Rugby Championship is played every June at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania, Chester. Rowing has been popular in Philadelphia since the 18th century. Boathouse Row is a symbol of Philadelphia's rich rowing history, and each Philadelphia Big 5, Big Five member has its own boathouse. Philadelphia hosts numerous local and collegiate rowing clubs and competitions, including the annual Dad Vail Regatta, which is the largest College rowing (United States), intercollegiate rowing event in North America with more than 100 U.S and Canadian colleges and universities participating; the annual Stotesbury Cup, Stotesbury Cup Regatta, which is billed as the world's oldest and largest rowing event for high school students; and the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. The regattas are held on the Schuylkill River and organized by the Schuylkill Navy, an association of area rowing clubs that has produced numerous Rowing at the Summer Olympics, Olympic rowers. The Philadelphia Spinners were a professional Ultimate (sport), ultimate team in Major League Ultimate (MLU) until 2016. The Spinners were one of the original eight teams of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) that began in 2012. They played at Franklin Field and won the inaugural AUDL championship and the final MLU championship in 2016. The MLU was suspended indefinitely by its investors in December 2016. , the Philadelphia Phoenix (AUDL), Philadelphia Phoenix continue to play in the AUDL. Philadelphia is home to the Philadelphia Big 5, a group of five NCAA Division I college basketball programs. The Big 5 are La Salle University, La Salle, University of Pennsylvania, Penn, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Joseph's, Temple University, Temple, and Villanova University, Villanova universities. The sixth NCAA Division I school in Philadelphia is Drexel University. Villanova won the 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, 1985, 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, 2016, and 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, 2018 championship of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Philadelphia will be one of the eleven US host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.


Law and government

Philadelphia County is a legal nullity. All county functions were assumed by the city in 1952. The city has been coterminous with the county since 1854. Philadelphia's 1952 Home Rule Municipal charter, Charter was written by the City Charter Commission, which was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in an act of April 21, 1949, and a city ordinance of June 15, 1949. The existing city council received a proposed draft on February 14, 1951, and the electors approved it in an election held April 17, 1951. The first elections under the new Home Rule Charter were held in November 1951, and the newly elected officials took office in January 1952. The city uses the Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor form, strong-mayor version of the mayor–council form of government, which is led by one mayor in whom executive (government), executive authority is vested. The mayor has the authority to appoint and dismiss members of all boards and commissions without the approval of the city council. Elected at-large, the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms, but can run for the position again after an intervening term.


Courts

Philadelphia County is coterminous with the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia County Pennsylvania courts of common pleas, Court of Common Pleas is the trial court of general jurisdiction for the city, hearing felony-level criminal cases and civil suits above the minimum jurisdictional limit of $10,000. The court also has appellate jurisdiction over rulings from the Philadelphia Municipal Court, Municipal and Traffic Courts, and some administrative agencies and boards. The trial division has 70 commissioned judges elected by the voters, along with about one thousand other employees. The court also has a family division with 25 judges and an orphans' court with three judges. , the city's District Attorney of Philadelphia, District Attorney is Larry Krasner, a Democrat. The last Republican to hold the office is Ronald D. Castille, who left in 1991 and later served as the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 2008 to 2014. The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles traffic cases, misdemeanor and felony criminal cases with maximum incarceration of five years, and civil cases involving $12,000 or less ($15,000 in real estate and school tax cases), and all landlord-tenant disputes. The municipal court has 27 judges elected by the voters. Pennsylvania's three appellate courts also have sittings in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the court of last resort in the state, regularly hears arguments in Philadelphia City Hall. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania also sit in Philadelphia several times a year. Judges for these courts are elected at large. The state Supreme Court and Superior Court have deputy prothonotary offices in Philadelphia. Additionally, Philadelphia is home to the federal United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, both of which are housed in the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse.


Politics

The current mayor is Jim Kenney who won the election in November 2015. Kenney's predecessor was
Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...
who had served two terms from 2009 to January 2016. Kenney is a member of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party as all List of mayors of Philadelphia#List of Mayors, Philadelphia mayors have been since 1952. Philadelphia City Council is the legislative branch which consists of ten council members representing individual districts and seven members elected at-large, all of whom are elected to four-year terms. Democrats are currently the majority and hold 14 seats including nine of the ten districts and five at-large seats. Republicans hold two seats: one at-large seat and the Northeast Philadelphia, Northeast-based Tenth District. The Working Families Party holds one at-large seat. The current council president is Darrell L. Clarke. As of December 31, 2016, there were 1,102,620 registered voters in Philadelphia. Registered voters constitute 70.3% of the total population. * Democratic Party (United States), Democratic: 853,140 (77.4%) * Republican: 125,530 (11.4%) * Other parties and unaffiliated: 123,950 (11.2%) Philadelphia had historically been a bastion of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
until the mid-1930s. The city hosted the first Republican National Convention in 1856 Republican National Convention, 1856. Democratic registrations increased after the Great Depression; however, the city was not carried by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in his landslide victory of 1932 United States presidential election, 1932 as Pennsylvania was one of only six states won by Republican Herbert Hoover. Voter turnout surged from 600,000 in 1932 to nearly 900,000 in 1936 United States presidential election, 1936 and Roosevelt carried Philadelphia with over 60% of the vote. The city has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1936. In 2008 United States presidential election, 2008, Democrat Barack Obama drew 83% of the city's vote. Obama's win was even greater in 2012 United States presidential election, 2012, capturing 85% of the vote. In 2016 United States presidential election, 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won 82% of the vote. As a result of the previously declining population in the city and state, Philadelphia has only three congressional districts of the 18 districts in Pennsylvania, based on the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census apportionment: Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district, the 2nd district, represented by Brendan Boyle; Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district, the 3rd, represented by Dwight Evans (politician), Dwight Evans; and Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district, the 5th, represented by Mary Gay Scanlon. All three representatives are Democrats though Republicans still have some support in the city, primarily in the
Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
. Sam Katz (Philadelphia), Sam Katz ran competitive mayoral races as the Republican nominee in Philadelphia mayoral election, 1999, 1999 and Philadelphia mayoral election, 2003, 2003, losing to Democrat John F. Street, John Street both times. Pennsylvania's longest-serving List of United States Senators from Pennsylvania, Senator, Arlen Specter, was an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania who opened his first law practice in Philadelphia."Specter, Arlen, (1930–2012)"
''bioguide.congress.gov''. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
Specter served as a Republican from 1981 and as a Democrat from 2009, losing that party's primary in United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania, 2010, 2010 and leaving office in January 2011. He had also been assistant counsel on the Warren Commission in 1964 and the city's district attorney from 1966 to 1974. Philadelphia has hosted various United States presidential nominating convention, national conventions, including in 1848 Whig National Convention, 1848 (Whig), 1856 Republican National Convention, 1856 (Republican), 1872 Republican National Convention, 1872 (Republican), 1900 Republican National Convention, 1900 (Republican), 1936 Democratic National Convention, 1936 (Democratic), 1940 Republican National Convention, 1940 (Republican), 1948 Republican National Convention, 1948 (Republican), 1948 Progressive National Convention, 1948 (Progressive), 2000 Republican National Convention, 2000 (Republican), and 2016 Democratic National Convention, 2016 (Democratic). Philadelphia has been home to one vice president, George M. Dallas, and one general of the American Civil War, George B. McClellan, who won his party's nomination for president but lost in the general election to Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In May 2019, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden chose Philadelphia to be his 2020 U.S. presidential campaign headquarters.


Environmental policy

"Green Cities, Clean Water" is an environmental policy initiative based in Philadelphia that has shown promising results in mitigating the effects of climate change. The researchers on the policy have stated that despite such promising plans of green infrastructure building, "the city is forecasted to grow warmer, wetter, and more urbanized over the century, runoff and local temperatures will increase on average throughout the city". Even though landcover predictive models on the effects of the policy initiative have indicated that green infrastructure could be useful at decreasing the amount of runoff in the city over time, the city government would have to expand its current plans and "consider the cobenefit of climate change adaptation when planning new projects'' in limiting the scope of city-wide temperature increase.


Public safety


Police and law enforcement

According to a 2015 report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Philadelphia Police Department#Districts, police districts with the highest rates of violent crime were Frankford, Philadelphia, Frankford (15th district) and Kensington, Philadelphia, Kensington (24th district) in the Near Northeast Philadelphia, Near Northeast, and districts to the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
(22nd, 25th, and 35th districts),
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
(19th district) and Southwest (12th district) of Center City. Each of those seven districts recorded more than a thousand violent crimes in 2014. The lowest rates of violent crime occurred in Center City, South Philadelphia, the Far Northeast Philadelphia, Far Northeast, and Roxborough, Philadelphia, Roxborough districts, the latter of which includes Manayunk, Philadelphia, Manayunk. Philadelphia had 500 (503 according to some sources) murders in 1990, a rate of 31.5 per 100,000. An average of about 400 murders occurred each year for most of the 1990s. The murder count dropped in 2002 to 288, then rose to 406 by 2006, before dropping slightly to 392 in 2007. A few years later, Philadelphia began to see a rapid decline in homicides and violent crime. In 2013, the city had 246 murders, which is a decrease of nearly 40% since 2006. In 2014, 248 homicides were committed. The homicide rate rose to 280 in 2015, then fell slightly to 277 in 2016, before rising again to 317 in 2017. Homicides increased dramatically in the late 2010s/early 2020s, reaching 499 homicides in 2020 and surpassing the 1990 "record" in 2021, with 501st murder on November 27 and 510 by the end of the month. In 2006, Philadelphia's homicide rate of 27.7 per 100,000 people was the highest of the country's 10 most populous cities. In 2012, Philadelphia had the fourth-highest homicide rate among the country's most populous cities. The rate dropped to 16 homicides per 100,000 residents by 2014 placing Philadelphia as the sixth-highest city in the country. The number of shootings in the city has declined significantly since the early years of the 21st century. Shooting incidents peaked at 1,857 in 2006 before declining nearly 44 percent to 1,047 shootings in 2014. Major crimes have decreased gradually since a peak in 2006 when 85,498 major crimes were reported. The number of reported major crimes fell 11 percent in three years to 68,815 occurrences in 2014. Violent crimes, which include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery, decreased 14 percent in three years to 15,771 occurrences in 2014. Philadelphia was ranked as the 76th most dangerous city in a 2018 report based on Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI data from 2016 for the rate of violent crimes per 1,000 residents in American cities with 25,000 or more people. The latest four years of reports indicate a steady reduction in violent crime as the city placed 67th in the 2017 report, 65th in 2016, and 54th in 2015. In 2014, Philadelphia enacted an ordinance decriminalizing the possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana or 8 grams of hashish; the ordinance gave police officers the discretion to treat possession of these amounts as a civil infraction punishable by a $25 ticket, rather than a crime. Philadelphia was at the time the largest city to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. From 2013 to 2018, marijuana arrests in the city dropped by more than 85%. The purchase or sale of marijuana remains a criminal offense in Philadelphia.


Firefighting

The Philadelphia Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS). The department's official mission is to protect public safety by quick and professional response to emergencies and the promotion of sound emergency prevention measures. This mandate encompasses all traditional Firefighting in the United States, firefighting functions, including fire suppression, with 60 engine companies and 30 ladder companies as well as specialty and support units deployed throughout the city; specialized firefighting units for
Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
and the Port of Philadelphia; investigations conducted by the fire marshal's office to determine the origins of fires and develop preventive strategies; Fire prevention, prevention programs to educate the public; and support services including research and planning, management of the fire communications center within the city's 9-1-1, 911 system, and operation of the Philadelphia Fire Academy.


Media


Newspapers

Philadelphia's two major Newspaper, daily newspapers are ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', first published in 1829—the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the country—and the ''Philadelphia Daily News'', first published in 1925. The ''Daily News'' has been published as an edition of the ''Inquirer'' since 2009. Recent owners of the ''Inquirer'' and ''Daily News'' have included Knight Ridder, The McClatchy Company, and Philadelphia Media Holdings, with the latter organization declaring bankruptcy in 2010. After two years of financial struggle, the newspapers were sold to Interstate General Media in 2012. The two newspapers had a combined daily circulation of 306,831 and a Sunday circulation of 477,313 —the eighteenth largest circulation in the country—while the website of the newspapers, Philly.com, was ranked thirteenth in popularity among online U.S. newspapers by Alexa Internet for the same year. Smaller publications include the ''Philadelphia Tribune'' published five days each week for the African Americans, African-American community; ''Philadelphia (magazine), Philadelphia'' magazine, a monthly regional magazine; ''Philadelphia Weekly'', a weekly alternative newspaper; ''Philadelphia Gay News'', a weekly newspaper for the LGBT community; ''The Jewish Exponent'', a weekly newspaper for the Jewish community; ''Al Día (Philadelphia), Al Día'', a weekly newspaper for the Latinos, Latino community; and ''Philadelphia Metro'', a free daily newspaper. Student-run newspapers include the University of Pennsylvania's ''The Daily Pennsylvanian'', Temple University's ''The Temple News'', and Drexel University's ''The Triangle (newspaper), The Triangle''.


Radio

The first experimental radio license was issued in Philadelphia in August 1912 to Saint Joseph's University, St. Joseph's College. The first commercial broadcasting, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio stations began broadcasting in 1922: first WTEL (AM), WIP, then owned by Gimbels department store, followed by WFIL, then owned by Strawbridge's, Strawbridge & Clothier department store, and WOO (Philadelphia), WOO, a defunct station owned by Wanamaker's department store, as well as WPHT, WCAU and WDAS (AM), WDAS. , the Federal Communications Commission, FCC lists 28 FM broadcasting, FM and 11 AM broadcasting, AM stations for Philadelphia. As of December 2017, the ten highest-rated stations in Philadelphia were Adult contemporary music, adult contemporary WBEB, WBEB-FM (101.1), Sports radio, sports talk WIP-FM (94.1), classic rock WMGK, WMGK-FM (102.9), urban adult contemporary WDAS-FM (105.3), classic hits WOGL, WOGL-FM (98.1), album-oriented rock WMMR, WMMR-FM (93.3), country music WXTU, WXTU-FM (92.5), All-news radio, all-news KYW (AM), KYW-AM (1060), talk radio WHYY-FM (90.9), and urban adult contemporary WRNB, WRNB-FM (100.3). Philadelphia is served by three non-commercial public broadcasting, public radio stations: WHYY-FM (NPR), WRTI, WRTI-FM (classical and jazz), and WXPN, WXPN-FM (adult alternative music).


Television

In the 1930s, the experimental station KYW-TV, W3XE, owned by Philco, became the first television station in Philadelphia. The station became NBC's first affiliate in 1939, and later became KYW-TV (currently a CBS affiliate). WCAU, WCAU-TV, WFIL-TV, and WHYY-TV were all founded by the 1960s. In 1952, WFIL (renamed WPVI-TV, WPVI) premiered the television show ''Bandstand'', which later became the nationally broadcast ''American Bandstand'' hosted by Dick Clark. Each commercial network has an affiliate in Philadelphia: KYW-TV 3 (CBS), WPVI-TV 6 (ABC), WCAU 10 (NBC), WPHL-TV 17 (MyNetworkTV), WFPA-CD 28 (UniMás), WTXF-TV 29 (Fox), WPSG 57 (The CW), WWSI 62 (Telemundo), and WUVP-DT 65 (Univision). The region is served also by public broadcasting stations WPPT (TV), WPPT-TV (Philadelphia), WHYY-TV (Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia), WLVT-TV (Lehigh Valley), and NJTV (New Jersey). Philadelphia has owned-and-operated stations for four major English-language broadcast networks: NBC – WCAU, WCAU-TV, CBS – KYW-TV, American Broadcasting Company, ABC – WPVI-TV, and Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox – WTXF-TV. The major Spanish-language networks are Univision – WUVP-DT, UniMás – WFPA-CD, and Telemundo – WWSI, WWSI-TV. , the city is the nation's fourth-largest consumer in media market, as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research firm, with nearly 2.9 million TV households.


Books

Since at least the 1700s, hundreds of Bibliography of Philadelphia, books and articles have been written about Philadelphia's history, culture, sports teams, crime, politics, and other themes related to the city's past, present, and future.


Infrastructure


Transportation

Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) which operates buses, trains, rapid transit (as both subways and Elevated railway, elevated trains), Tram, trolleys, and Trolleybus, trackless trolleys (electric buses) throughout Philadelphia, the four Pennsylvania suburban counties of
Bucks Bucks may refer to: Places * Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks * Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...
, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Montgomery, in addition to service to Mercer County, New Jersey (Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton) and New Castle County, Delaware (Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington and Newark, Delaware). The city's subway system consists of two routes: the subway section of the Market–Frankford Line running east–west under Market Street (Philadelphia), Market Street which opened in 1905 to the west and 1908 to the east of City Hall, and the Broad Street Line running north–south beneath Broad Street (Philadelphia), Broad Street which opened in stages from 1928 to 1938. Beginning in the 1980s, large sections of the SEPTA Regional Rail service to the far suburbs of Philadelphia were discontinued due to a lack of funding for equipment and infrastructure maintenance. Philadelphia's
30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
is a major railroad station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor with 4.4 million passengers in 2017 making it the List of busiest Amtrak stations, third-busiest station in the country after Pennsylvania Station (New York City), New York City's Pennsylvania Station and Washington Union Station, Washington's Union Station. 30th Street Station offers access to Amtrak, SEPTA, and NJ Transit lines. Over 12 million SEPTA and NJ Transit rail commuters use the station each year, and more than 100,000 people on an average weekday. The PATCO Speedline provides rapid transit service to Camden, New Jersey, Camden, Collingswood, New Jersey, Collingswood, Westmont, New Jersey, Westmont, Haddonfield, New Jersey, Haddonfield, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Woodcrest (Cherry Hill), Voorhees, New Jersey, Ashland (Voorhees), and Lindenwold, New Jersey, Lindenwold, New Jersey, from stations on Locust Street between 16th and 15th, 13th and 12th, and 10th and 9th Streets, and on Market Street at 8th Street.


Airports

Two airports serve Philadelphia: the
Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...
(PHL) is south-southwest of Center City on the boundary with Delaware County, providing scheduled domestic and international air service,"Philadelphia International Airport: About Us"
. ''phl.org''. Philadelphia International Airport. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
while Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) is a general aviation relief airport in
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
serving general and corporate aviation. Philadelphia International Airport is among the busiest airports in the world World's busiest airports by traffic movements, measured by traffic movements (i.e., takeoffs and landings). More than 30 million passengers pass through the airport annually on 25 airlines, including all major domestic carriers. The airport has nearly 500 daily departures to more than 120 destinations worldwide. SEPTA's Airport Line (SEPTA), Airport Regional Rail Line provides direct service between Center City railroad stations and Philadelphia International Airport.


Roads

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
planned Philadelphia with Numbered street#Philadelphia, numbered streets traversing north and south, and streets named for trees, such as Chestnut Street (Philadelphia), Chestnut, Walnut Street (Philadelphia), Walnut, and Arch Street (Philadelphia), Mulberry, traversing east and west. The two main streets were named Broad Street (Philadelphia), Broad Street (the north–south Arterial road, artery, since designated Pennsylvania Route 611) and High Street (the east–west artery, since renamed Market Street (Philadelphia), Market Street) converging at Centre Square which later became the site of Philadelphia City Hall, City Hall. Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania, Interstate 95 (the Delaware Expressway) traverses the southern and eastern edges of the city along the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
as the main north–south controlled-access highway, connecting Philadelphia with Newark, New Jersey and New York City to the north and with Baltimore and Washington, D.C. southward. The city is also served by Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), Interstate 76 (the Schuylkill Expressway), which runs along the Schuylkill River, intersecting the Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, King of Prussia and providing access to
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
and points west. Interstate 676 (the Vine Street Expressway) links I-95 and I-76 through Center City by running below street level between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Vine Street (Philadelphia), Vine Street. Entrance and exit ramps for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge are near the eastern end of the expressway, just west of the I-95 interchange."OpenStreetMap"
''openstreetmap.org''. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
The Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia), Roosevelt Boulevard and Expressway (U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania, U.S. 1) connect
Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
with Center City via I-76 through
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
. Woodhaven Road (Pennsylvania Route 63, Route 63) and Cottman Avenue (Pennsylvania Route 73, Route 73) serve the neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia, running between I-95 and the Roosevelt Boulevard. The Fort Washington Expressway (Pennsylvania Route 309, Route 309) extends north from the city's northern border, serving Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Bucks County. U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 30 (Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, Lancaster Avenue) extends westward from West Philadelphia to Lancaster. Interstate 476 (locally referred to as the Blue Route) traverses Delaware County, bypassing the city to the west and serving the city's western suburbs, as well as providing a direct route to Allentown and points north, including the Pocono Mountains, Poconos. Interstate 276 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Pennsylvania Turnpike#Delaware River extension, Delaware River extension) acts as a bypass and commuter route to the north of the city as well as a link to the New Jersey Turnpike and New York City. The Delaware River Port Authority operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area across the Delaware River to New Jersey: the Walt Whitman Bridge (I-76), the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (I-676 and U.S. 30), the Betsy Ross Bridge (New Jersey Route 90), and the Commodore Barry Bridge (U.S. Route 322, U.S. 322 in Delaware County, south of the city). The Burlington County Bridge Commission maintains two bridges across the Delaware River: the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge which connects Pennsylvania Route 73, PA Route 73 in the Tacony, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia with New Jersey Route 73 in Palmyra, New Jersey, Palmyra, Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, and the Burlington–Bristol Bridge which connects New Jersey Route 413, NJ Route 413/U.S. Route 130 in Burlington, New Jersey with Pennsylvania Route 413, PA Route 413/U.S. Route 13 in Pennsylvania, U.S. 13 in Bristol Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Bristol Township, north of Philadelphia.


Bus service

The Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal, Greyhound terminal is at 1001 Filbert Street (at 10th Street) in Center City, southeast of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and south of Chinatown, Philadelphia, Chinatown. Several other bus operators provide service at the Greyhound terminal including Trailways Transportation System, Fullington Trailways, Martz Group, Martz Trailways, Peter Pan Bus Lines, and NJ Transit Bus Operations, NJ Transit buses. Other intercity bus services include Megabus (North America), Megabus with stops at
30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
and the visitor center for Independence Hall, BoltBus (operated by Greyhound) at 30th Street Station, OurBus at various stops in the city.


Rail

Since the early days of rail transportation in the United States, Philadelphia has served as a hub for several major rail companies, particularly the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
and the Reading Company, Reading Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad first operated Broad Street Station (Philadelphia), Broad Street Station, then
30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
and Suburban Station, and the Reading Railroad operated Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The two companies also operated competing commuter rail systems in the area. The two systems now operate as a single system under the control of SEPTA, the regional transit authority. Additionally, the PATCO Speedline subway system and NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line operate successor services to southern New Jersey. In 1911, Philadelphia had nearly 4,000 electric tram, trolleys running on 86 lines. In 2005, SEPTA reintroduced trolley service to the SEPTA Route 15, Girard Avenue Line, Route 15. SEPTA operates six subway-surface trolleys that run on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and subway tunnels in Center City, along with two surface trolleys in adjacent suburbs. Philadelphia is a regional hub of the State-owned enterprise, federally-owned Amtrak system, with 30th Street Station being a primary stop on the Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor and the Keystone Corridor to
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
and Pittsburgh. 30th Street also serves as a major station for services via the Pennsylvania Railroad's former Main Line (Pennsylvania Railroad), Pennsylvania Main Line to Chicago. , 30th Street is Amtrak's third-busiest station in the country, after New York City and Washington.


Walk Score ranks

A 2017 study by Walk Score ranked Philadelphia the fifth-most walkable major city in the United States with a score of 79 out of 100, in the middle of the "very walkable" range. The city was just edged out by fourth place Miami (79.2), with the top three cities being New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Philadelphia placed fifth in the public transit friendly category, behind Washington, D.C., with the same three cities for walkability topping this category. The city ranked tenth in the bike friendly cities category, with the top three cities being Minneapolis, San Francisco and Portland. ''USA Today'' readers voted the Schuylkill River Trail the best urban trail in the nation in 2015.


Utilities


Water purity and availability

In 1815, Philadelphia began sourcing its water via the Fairmount Water Works on the Schuylkill River, the nation's first major urban water supply system. In 1909, the Water Works was decommissioned as the city transitioned to modern Sand filter, sand filtration methods. Today, the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) provides drinking water, wastewater collection, and stormwater services for Philadelphia, as well as surrounding counties. PWD draws about 57 percent of its drinking water from the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
and the balance from the Schuylkill River. The city has two filtration plants on the Schuylkill River and one on the Delaware River. The three plants can treat up to 546 million gallons of water per day, while the total storage capacity of the combined plant and distribution system exceeds one billion gallons. The wastewater system consists of three water pollution control plants, 21 pumping stations, and about of sewers.


Electricity

Exelon subsidiary PECO Energy Company, founded as the Brush Electric Light Company of Philadelphia in 1881 and renamed Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) in 1902, provides electricity to about 1.6 million customers and more than 500,000 natural gas customers in the southeastern Pennsylvania area including the city of Philadelphia and most of its suburbs. PECO is the largest electric and natural gas utility in the state with 472 power substations and nearly of electric transmission and distribution lines, along with of natural gas transmission, distribution & service lines.


Natural gas

Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), overseen by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, is the nation's largest municipally-owned natural gas utility. PGW serves over 500,000 homes and businesses in the Philadelphia area. Founded in 1836, the company came under city ownership in 1987 and has been providing the majority of gas distributed within city limits. In 2014, the
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
refused to conduct hearings on a $1.86 billion sale of PGW, part of a two-year effort that was proposed by the mayor. The refusal led to the prospective buyer terminating its offer.


Telecommunications

Southeastern Pennsylvania was assigned the area code 215, 215 area code in 1947 when the North American Numbering Plan of the Bell System went into effect. The geographic area covered by the code was split nearly in half in 1994 when Area codes 610, 484, and 835, area code 610 was created, with the city and its northern suburbs retaining 215. area code overlay, Overlay area code 267 was added to the 215 service area in 1997, and 484 was added to the 610 area in 1999. A plan in 2001 to introduce a third overlay code to both service areas, area code 445 to 215 and Area codes 610, 484, and 835, area code 835 to 610, was delayed and later rescinded. Area code 445 was implemented as an overlay for area codes 215 and 267 starting on February 3, 2018.


Notable people


Sister cities

Philadelphia also has three partnership cities or regions: Philadelphia has eight official Sister city, sister cities as designated by the Citizen Diplomacy International of Philadelphia: Philadelphia has dedicated landmarks to its sister cities. The Sister Cities Park, a site of at 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway within Logan Circle (Philadelphia), Logan Square, was dedicated in June 1976. The park was built to commemorate Philadelphia's first two sister city relationships, with Tel Aviv and Florence. The Toruń Triangle, honoring the sister city relationship with Toruń, Poland, was constructed in 1976, west of the United Way of America, United Way building at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Sister Cities Park was redesigned and reopened in 2012, featuring an interactive fountain honoring Philadelphia's sister and partnership cities, a café and visitor's center, children's play area, outdoor garden, and boat pond, as well as a pavilion built to environmentally friendly standards. The Chinatown Gate, erected in 1984 and crafted by artisans of Tianjin, stands astride 10th Street, on the north side of its intersection with Arch Street (Philadelphia), Arch Street, as a symbol of the sister city relationship. The CDI of Philadelphia has participated in the United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State's "Partners for Peace" project with Mosul, Iraq,IVC of Philadelphia Partners with Mosul, Iraq in Groundbreaking Program
Retrieved January 26, 2011.
as well as accepting visiting delegations from dozens of other countries.Inbound delegations visiting Philadelphia
Retrieved January 26, 2011.


See also

* List of Pennsylvania state historical markers in Philadelphia County * List of metropolitan areas in the Americas, Metropolitan areas in the Americas * National Register of Historic Places listings in Philadelphia


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links


City of Philadelphia government

Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
– historical encyclopedia
Historic Philadelphia
– over 2 million photographs dating back to the late 1800s
Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network
– historical maps and atlases *
philly.com
– ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and ''Philadelphia Daily News, Daily News''
Convention & Visitors Bureau

Pennsylvania Convention Center

''10 Towns that Changed America''
– WTTW; segment from 7:23–12:00 of 56-minute video {{Authority control Philadelphia, 1682 establishments in Pennsylvania Cities in Pennsylvania Consolidated city-counties County seats in Pennsylvania Former capitals of the United States Former state capitals in the United States, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania populated places on the Delaware River Planned cities in the United States Populated places established in 1682 Populated places on the Schuylkill River Port cities and towns of the Pennsylvania Atlantic coast Ukrainian communities in the United States