Pennsylvania, since 1830 the second in population of the United States of America, is in shape a parallelogram, lying almost entirely between and N. lat. (Mason and Dixon's Line, q.v.), and between the irregular W-shaped Delaware River and W. long. It is about 160 miles wide and 302 miles long from east to west; in area (45,215 sq. m.) it is the twenty-eighth state of the Union. In the north-western corner a triangular section extends to , forming part of the western boundary of New York, and giving Pennsylvania about 45 miles of coast on Lake Erie, with an excellent harbour at Erie.
The Appalachian (q.v.) system of mountains crosses Pennsylvania from north-east to south-west. It here attains its greatest breadth, but none of the ridges reach any great altitude, though a few peaks among the Alleghanies attain a height of more than 2500 feet. Between the Blue or Kittatinny Mountains on the east and the higher Alleghany range on the west lie numerous minor forest-clad chains, interspersed with picturesque valleys, many of them rendered exceedingly fertile by the limestone bed which produces their soil. The surface of the state is naturally divided into three sections, the low district south-east of the mountains, the mountainous region, and the broken hilly plateau in the west. The triangular south-eastern part of the state consists of a narrow level plain near the Delaware River, with an elevation of not more than 100 feet above the sea, merging into a higher rolling region which extends to the base of the mountains. From Canada to the southern limit of the Appalachians extends an almost continuous valley, lying east of the main ranges, and separated from the coast region by the skirting south-eastern ridge. This 'great valley' is through- out its whole extent protected by a southern or eastern wall, except in Pennsylvania, where, through a break of about 50 miles, the Cumberland Valley is without a barrier toward the sea, and the fertile calcareous soil spreads out over Lancaster and parts of York, Berks, and Chester counties, making this one of the best farming regions of the country. The mountain region covers a belt which in places is more than 100 miles in width, and embraces about one-fourth of the area of the state. More than twenty ranges have been named, and the whole region is justly celebrated for its scenery. The rivers have in various places cut gaps through the ridges, thus affording passages for travel and commerce. Many of these water-gaps are exceedingly picturesque, and are much visited by tourists. The western plateau region comprises about one-half the area of the state; it is crossed by a few ridges, contains some isolated peaks, and is deeply furrowed by watercourses. Much of this section is heavily wooded.
The geology of Pennsylvania is particularly remarkable on account of the great development of the different periods of the Palæozoic era. The formations in the south-eastern part of the state are in dispute, but the vicinity of Philadelphia is generally admitted to be Archæan, and a little farther north is a belt of Quaternary alluvium. The Silurian deposits, which extend along the Hudson River in New York, continue into Pennsylvania and form the Kittatinny Mountains. The Devonian area of New York also covers a large part of the northern and north-eastern portion of Pennsylvania. West of the Kittatinnies the mountains present alternate Silurian and Devonian formations. West of the Alleghanies, throughout the great bituminous coalfields, the rocks are mainly conglomerate. The mountains and the western plateau region were originally highly elevated tracts, and have suffered to a vast extent from erosion. They have contributed nearly all the material for building up the lowland regions of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and for the formation of the Lower Mississippi valley. The geological disturbances have been greatest and most frequent in the eastern part of the state, where the beds of anthracite coal occur at all angles and in some cases in a vertical position, whereas the bituminous coal-beds of the western field are nearly horizontal. The breaking of the strata and the enormous pressure to which the eastern coal-deposits have been subjected has resulted in giving Pennsylvania the most valuable anthracite basins of the country. It is a notable fact that the percentage of gas in the coal regularly increases from the eastern ranges to the western coal-measures. Although Pennsylvania is one of the richest mineral regions of the world, there is no department of her mineral wealth in which she exercises such exclusive control as in her deposits of anthracite coal. The bituminous coal is excellent in quality and variety, and the amount is practically inexhaustible, but the western coalfields are only part of a vast deposit which extends westward and southward into adjoining states. The iron ore which has contributed so materially to her wealth and prosperity is mined from an extensive belt which reaches on the north to Canada and on the south to Alabama. Even the petroleum and natural gas which are such important products of western Pennsylvania are found in other sections; but as yet her anthracite coal-basins are without a rival. The anthracite tract covers an area of 472 sq. m., and is situated in the highland district between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. The most important deposits lie in three great fields, known as the southern, middle, and northern fields. It is estimated that with an output of 100,000,000 tons per year the anthracite mines would not be exhausted for two centuries. At present the production is about one-third of that estimate. Pittsburgh is the centre of the bituminous region, and the annual production is about 25,000,000 tons. The proximity of coal and iron in such vast quantities has made Pennsylvania a great mining and manufacturing state. Though equalled or surpassed by Michigan in the mining of iron ore, Pennsylvania still leads in the manufacture of pig-iron.
The successful boring for Petroleum (q.v.) in 1859 produced an excitement which was not surpassed even by the discovery of gold in California. Fortunes were made and lost in a day. The mining of petroleum and the manufacture of the various articles produced from it have created new and important industries. The utilisation of natural gas for heating and manufacturing purposes has also greatly modified methods of living in western Pennsylvania. Gold, silver, copper, and tin exist in Pennsylvania, but not in paying quantities, though copper is mined to a limited extent in Montgomery county. There are large zinc-works at South Bethlehem, and nickel is obtained in Lancaster county.
The eastern part of the state is drained by the Delaware and its tributaries the Schuylkill and Lehigh. The Susquehanna, with its affluents the North Branch, the West Branch, and the 'beautiful Juniata,' occupies the central drainage area. The Susquehanna is too rapid and too shallow for navigation, but it is used for floating quantities of timber, and coal, lumber, and other products are carried by the canals along its banks. A portion of the north-western region belongs to the valley of the Genesee, but the greater part of western Pennsylvania is drained by the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, which, uniting at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio, furnish the state with a great highway of inland navigation. Pennsylvania has 8500 miles of railroad and 800 miles of canals. For the 'Pennsylvania system,' see PRISONS, p. 423.
In the mountains and wooded sections the smaller wild animals are still abundant. The panther, wild cat, and black bear are occasionally seen, and in some places the deer and wild turkey are not uncommon. The climate is healthful, but subject to extremes, and much modified by differences of elevation. Heavy snows fall on the mountains in winter, and the rivers of the western half of the state are often flooded in spring and summer (see e.g. JOHNSTOWN). Nearly one-fourth of the state is wooded; lumbering is one of the sources of wealth in the north, and farther south and west are great forests of hemlock, which maintain some of the largest tanneries in the world. In the Pocono swamps and plateaus, between the Wyoming and Kittatinny Mountains, the virgin growth of beech is known as the 'Shades of Death.' The soil, except in the mountains, is rich and fertile. Agriculture is a leading occupation, and in many crops Pennsylvania holds a high rank. The mountain regions and the western plateau are well suited for grazing, and the horses, cattle, sheep, and dairy products are noted for their excellence. The most important industries of Pennsylvania are mining and manufacturing. The amount of capital invested is greater than in any other state, and in the value of her manufactured products Pennsylvania is surpassed only by New York. Her commerce, both foreign and domestic, is very extensive. Shipbuilding is an interest of importance; river-steamers are built at Pittsburgh, and the perfection reached in the construction of iron steamships on the banks of the Delaware has given to that stream the title of the 'Clyde of America.'
History.—The first permanent settlement in the state was made in 1643 by Swedes, at the present site of Chester. Their colony of New Sweden was twelve years later conquered by the Dutch. In 1664 the English obtained possession, and the territory now called Pennsylvania was in 1681 granted by Charles II. to William Penn (q.v.). The friendly relations already existing between the whites and the Indians were re-established by Penn by a treaty, which was faithfully observed by both parties for more than fifty years. During the French and Indian wars, however, and again during the war of the revolution, the frontier settlements were attacked. In the struggle for independence and in the civil war Pennsylvania took a prominent part, and witnessed a number of the most famous battles and events connected with each. Schools were established by the earliest settlers, and a system of education formed part of the original scheme of government prepared by William Penn. The public schools now are attended by over a million pupils, and there are more than twenty universities and colleges in the state. A system of Soldiers' Orphan Schools was established in 1865, and there are numerous other charitable and educational institutions. There is a large foreign element in the population; many of the miners and ironworkers, especially, are of Irish, Hungarian, and Italian birth, and serious riots have not seldom occurred (see also MOLLY MAGUIRES). Among the farmers a very large proportion are of German descent, and still speak the patois known as 'Pennsylvania Dutch.' This belongs to the South German dialects, and is most closely related to the Pfälzisch; it preserves many old and curious German words, but is also interspersed more or less with Germanised English words, according to the locality. There are perhaps two million people around Philadelphia and New York who speak the patois; and in the country south-east of the Alleghanies they have their own dialectal newspapers. Specimens (spelt phonetically) of the dialect may be given: 'Ich trink tschenerli rooter wei' (I generally drink red wine); and 's' wetter iss d'r gants daak schee gwest' (the weather has been fine the entire day). See Prof. S. S. Haldeman's Pennsylvania Dutch (1872); also A. J. Ellis's Early English Pronunciation (part iv. 1875).
The state contains sixty-seven counties, and returns twenty-eight members to congress. Philadelphia, the metropolis of the state, is the leading manufacturing city of the Union and ranks third in population. Among other important cities, besides Pittsburgh and Alleghany, which form in all their interests a single community, are Harrisburg, the capital (pop. 1890, 40,221), Scranton (83,450), Reading (58,926), Erie (39,199), Wilkes Barre (37,651), Lancaster (32,090), Altoona (30,269), Williamsport (27,107), Allentown (25,183), York (20,849), Chester (20,167), &c. Pop. of the state (1800) 602,365; (1840) 1,724,033; (1880) 4,282,891; (1890) 5,258,014.
Penny (A.S. pening or pending; apparently from pand, 'a pawn,' Ger. pfand, Lat. pannus), a British coin, first mentioned in the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, about the close of the 7th century. It was at this time a silver coin, and weighed about 22½ troy grains, being thus about th of the Saxon pound-weight. This relation to the pound-weight is evidently derived from the usage of the early Franks, who retained the Roman division of the libra into 20 solidi, and the solidus into 12 denarii (the denarius being thus the 240th part of the libra or pound). See MARK. Halfpence and farthings were not coined in England till the time of Edward I, but the practice previously prevailed of so deeply indenting the penny with a cross mark that the coin could be easily broken into two or four parts as required. Silver farthings ceased to be coined under Edward VI., and silver halfpennies under the Commonwealth. Up to this time the penny had steadily decreased in weight; and under Elizabeth it was finally fixed at grains, or of an ounce of silver, a value to which the subsequent copper pennies closely approximated. In 1672 an authorised copper coinage of pence, halfpence, and farthings was established. In 1797 twopenny pieces were coined, but were soon withdrawn. The penny of the present bronze coinage, first issued in the end of 1860, is of only about half the value of the old copper penny and as metal is worth only about one-seventh of a penny. The German pfennig was also originally a silver coin, bearing the same relation to the German pound of silver as the English penny to its pound. Now the nickel ten-pfennig piece is the th of the mark. The old Scots penny was only th of the English one, as the pound Scots and the Scots shilling were also th of the English coins of the same name. In the 12th century it was made very broad and thin.