Д«y the time that European colonization of the Americas began, several Native American tribes inhabited the region. By 1000 C.E., in contrast to their nomadic hunter-gatherer ancestors, the native population of Pennsylvania had developed agricultural techniques and a mixed food economy. The Meadowcroft Rockshelter contains the earliest known signs of human activity in Pennsylvania, and perhaps all of North America, as it contains the remains of a civilization that existed over 10,000 years ago and possibly pre-dated the Clovis culture. There is an open debate in the archaeological community regarding when the ancestors of Native Americans expanded across the two continents down to the tip of South America, with possibilities ranging between 30,000 and 10,500 years ago. Archaeologists generally believe that the first settlement of the Americas occurred at least 15,000 years ago during the last glacial period, though it is unclear when humans first entered the area known as Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's history of human habitation extends to thousands of years before the foundation of the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. See also: List of Pennsylvania firsts and List of people from Pennsylvania Indigenous settlement Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the Constitution on December 12, 1787. Constitution, which, along with the Declaration of Independence, was drafted in Independence Hall in Philadelphia the city also hosted the first and second Constitutional Convention that led the American Revolution. Pennsylvania's governing framework inspired the U.S. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the Province of Pennsylvania was noteworthy for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism.

It was founded in 1681 through royal land grant to William Penn, son of the state's namesake the southeast portion was once part of the colony of New Sweden. Pennsylvania was one of the thirteen British colonies that would eventually form the United States. While it has only 140 miles (225В km) of waterfront along Lake Erie and the Delaware River, Pennsylvania has more navigable rivers than any other state, including the Delaware, Ohio, and Pine Creek. Pennsylvania's geography is highly diverse: the Appalachian Mountains run through its center, while the Allegheny and Pocono Mountains span much of the northeast close to 60% of the state is forested. Other major cities include Erie, Reading, Bethlehem, and Scranton. Pennsylvania's three largest cities are Philadelphia (1.6 million), Pittsburgh (302,971), and Allentown (125,845). Nearly half the population (6.09 million) is concentrated in the southeastern Delaware Valley metropolitan area, centered around Philadelphia, the state's largest and nation's sixth most populous city another one-third of the state's residents live in Greater Pittsburgh (2.37 million) in the southwest. It is the 33rd-largest state by area and it ranks ninth among all states in population density. Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous state in the United States with over 13 million residents as of 2020. It borders Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest, New York to the north, and New Jersey to the east. state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, and Appalachian regions of the United States. Pennsylvania ( / ЛЊ p Й› n s ЙЄ l Л€ v eЙЄ n i Й™/ ( listen) PEN-sЙ™l- VAY-nee-Й™ Pennsylvania German: Pennsilfaani), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S.

Best buy security camera