Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 American colonies. The 45,308 square miles (117,348 square km) of the state are bounded on the north by Lake Erie and New York; on the east by New York and New Jersey; on the south by Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia; and on the west by the panhandle of West Virginia and by Ohio. Harrisburg, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, is the capital.
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Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 American colonies. The 45,308 square miles (117,348 square km) of the state are bounded on the north by Lake Erie and New York; on the east by New York and New Jersey; on the south by Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia; and on the west by the panhandle of West Virginia and by Ohio. Harrisburg, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, is the capital.
Pennsylvania has long been one of the most populous states in the nation. Geographically, it is the Keystone State, integrating first the older states of the North-east and the South and later the states of the East and the developing territories and states of the Midwest. The state is polarized by two great metropolitan areas: Philadelphia lies athwart the vast population belt stretching along the seaboard from Maine to Virginia, and Pittsburgh is the beginning of the booming industrial belt reaching westward across the Great Lakes plains to Chicago and Milwaukee.
Pennsylvania has a continental climate that is characterized by wide fluctuations in seasonal temperatures, with prevailing winds from the west. The frost-free period lasts the longest in the southeast, the Ohio valley, and the Erie lowlands. Higher areas are free of frost from three to five months a year. Coupled with some 39 inches (991mm) of rain annually, this provides adequately for the cultivation of temperate-zone crops and vegetation. In the north, average temperatures range from about 25°F (-4°C) in January to about 69°F (21°C) in July. In the southeast and western portions of the state, averages are several degrees higher.
Pennsylvania's 2005 total gross state product (GSP) of $430.31 billion ranks the state 6th in the nation. If Pennsylvania were an independent country, its economy would rank as the 17th largest in the world, ahead of Belgium, but behind the Netherlands. On a per-capita basis, Pennsylvania has a per-capita GSP of $34,619 ranks 26th among the 50 states.
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