The Geography of Philadelphia
The Geography of Philadelphia is perhaps one of the most interesting facets of the city. Located along the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, this Pennsylvanian city lies in the Northeastern United States. The city was founded by William Penn in October 27, 1682 and is now the United State’s fifth largest metropolitan area. Its name was derived from the Greek words philos which means “loving”, and adelphos which means “brother”. Such etymology gave the city the moniker “City of Brotherly Love”. The city of Philadelphia is also fondly referred to as Philly. It has over six million people in its entirety while its five counties covering the metropolitan division have over four million citizens.
The Geography of Philadelphia covers an area that is approximately 142.6 square miles. Over 90% of this area is land while the remaining amounts to Philadelphia’s bodies of water. The Pennypack Creeks, Wissahickon, Cobbs, Delaware and Schuylkill rivers comprise the area’s water component. Philadelphia belongs to the Koppen Climate Classification.
Philadelphia is also considered as the Delaware Valley’s cultural, educational, and commercial center. It boasts of its acclaimed museums like the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Aside from museums it also has an established theatre culture as sustained by places like the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Wilma Theater, Walnut Street Theater, and Philadelphia Theater Company. Public art including murals is also highly encouraged in the city thus making it a haven for all sorts of artists including the members of the Plastic Club and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. In terms of cuisine, Philadelphia is home to such novel food items like the cheesesteak, hoagies, soft pretzels, scrapple, water ice, and Tastykake. It is also a shopper’s destination with its various markets and supermalls like the Reading Terminal Market in Center City and the Italian Market in the Southern area. Moreover, the city takes pride in its vast park dubbed as the Fairmount Park which houses the Philadelphia zoo.
When it comes to sports, the city of Philadelphia is also on top of its game. Some of its most noteworthy teams include the Philadelphia Phillies (Major League Baseball), 76ers (National Basketball Association), Eagles (National Football League), and the Philadelphia Flyers (National Hockey League) among others.
The city’s economy is sustained by different industries such as oil refining, manufacturing, health care, biotechnology, financial services, food processing, and tourism. It has its own Stock Exchange market and is the home city of some of the biggest companies on the globe like Comcast, Crown Holdings Incorporated, GlaxoSmithKline, Rohm and Hass Company, and FMC Corporation to name a few.
Philadelphia is home to the American Law Institute and is deemed as the national center of law due to such esteemed universities like Rutgers University School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It is no doubt that it’s people practice the virtue of abiding to laws and policies in order to promote peace and order in every corner of the state. The Geography of Philadelphia is truly an experience of its own, providing multidimensional elements to urban living.