Philadelphia

Philadelphia (pop. 1,552,600), historic city in the southeastern region of Pennsylvania, the fourth largest in the United States. It is a key shipping port, with important metal, machinery, clothing, petroleum, chemical, and food industries and has long been a center for publishing, education, and the arts. It was one of the first planned cities. Its founder, William Penn, created his colony in 1682 as a “holy experiment” in which all sects could find freedom. Philadelphia (Greek, “brotherly love”) attracted immigrants and brought commerce that made it the largest and wealthiest of New World cities. In the Old City, near Delaware River, is the Independence National Historic Park, whose buildings include Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were adopted. The city was U.S. capital, 1790–1800; corruption in government and growth of slums accompanied a decline. In the 1950s massive urban renewal projects were initiated. Today the city has the world's largest freshwater port, linked with the Atlantic by the Delaware River.

See also: Pennsylvania.