As beneficiary of a royal land grant near the middle Atlantic seaboard in 1681, William Penn established the colony of Pennsylvania which he named after his father. The colony was to be a refuge for Quakers and others seeking escape from religious intolerance. Originally it was called The Quaker State and later The Keystone State when it emerged as the cultural and geographical center of the thirteen American colonies. Pennsylvania is located at the heart of the Appalachian region bordering Lake Erie and New York to the north; the Delaware River and New Jersey on the east; Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia to the south; the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. Its seven main regions are the flat, rich Erie Lowland; the Appalachian Plateau covering more than half the state; the Appalachian Ridge and Valley crossing the state diagonally between Maryland and the Poconos; the Blue Ridge extending north from Maryland; the Piedmont containing much of the state's richest farmlands; the New England Upland that juts into southeastern Pennsylvania from New Jersey; and the Coastal Plain, a narrow, level strip of land along the Delaware River. Major rivers are the Ohio, Susquehanna, Delaware, Allegheny, Monongahela, and Genessee. Its capital is Harrisburg. Other principal cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Allentown, Scranton, Reading, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Altoona, Wilkes-Barre, and York. Current estimated population: 12,2281,054. Pennsylvania is noted for its diversity, from rich agricultural country to commercial forests to heavy industrial regions to large urban communities to national shrines, reminders of the state's important in U.S. history.

Its cultural heritage is reflected today in more than 80 universities and colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, Temple, Villanova, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Drexel Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Bucknell, Swarthmore, Duquesne, and Lehigh. The state's major libraries are Benjamin Franklin's Library Company of Philadelphia, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Philadelphia Free Library, and the University of Pennsylvania library.

More than 100 state parks are distributed across the state, providing an abundance of scenic opportunities for healthful outdoor recreation and environmental education. Included are the Big Pocono State Park atop Camelback Mountain; Goddard State Park, said to be an angler's paradise; rugged Bald Eagle State Park, a great place to observe wildlife; Keystone State Park, with tent and trailer facilities for family vacations; French Creek State Park, scenic hills and picturesque farmlands; beautiful Fort Washington Park named for the fort built by George Washington's troops in the fall of 1777 en route to Valley Forge.

The state's many popular attractions range from the American Academy of Equine Art Gallery in Ardmore to the Chadds Ford Gallery specializing in Andrew Wyeth; from the Pennsylvania Museum of Art to Independence National Historic Park where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were signed, and home of the Liberty Bell; from the Franklin Institute of Science in Philadelphia to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Houdini Museum in Scranton; from Gettysburg National Military Park to the Drake Well Museum on the site of the world's first oil well; from the Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro to Valley Forge National Historic Park. The internationally famous symphony orchestras in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. And so much more. Including a full menu of professional sports: major league baseball, football, basketball, hockey, world class golf, challenging ski resorts.

Pennsylvania's broad base economy embraces a wealth of natural resources, agriculture, tourism, nuclear research, service industries, lumbering, mining, and such manufactures as chemicals, machinery, textiles, metals, automotive and transportation equipment, printing and publishing, and pharmaceuticals. Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading international ports, Pittsburgh is a busy river port, and Erie Port is linked to the St. Lawrence Seaway. The state is served by a modern interstate system, including the nation's first super highway; international airports at Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg; Amtrak and an extensive rail system.

When Europeans arrived in eastern Pennsylvania they found the Delaware and Shawnee Indians plus a scattering of Iroquois, Huron, Erie, and Susquehannock. The Dutch established trading posts in the area in 1609 when Henry Hudson anchored the Half Moon in Delaware Bay, but the first permanent settlers were the Swedes. In 1655 the Swedish colony was captured by the Dutch, and then by the British in 1664. A royal charter granted the area to William Penn in 1681. A year later Penn drafted Pennsylvania's first constitution. Largely because of its central location, the city of Philadelphia was chosen as the meeting place of the first two Continental Congresses, responsible for adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Pennsylvania became the second U.S. state, and Philadelphia was the nation's first capital (1790-1800). The state was a sanctuary for runaway slaves by the time the Civil War broke out in 1861. During the 1900s Pennsylvania became, in addition to a leading cultural and educational center, one of America's most important industrial markets.