Pennsylvania Facts for Kids

Our Pennsylvania Facts for Kids provide interesting and fun facts about the second state of the United States of America, its people, attractions and geographical superlatives and all other important facts about Pennsylvania you really should know.

Top 30 Pennsylvania Facts for Kids | USA

1. Pennsylvania is referred to the USA's "second state" as it was the second state of the USA after Delaware to ratify the country's constitution in 1787 and then was admitted to the Union as the second state on 12 December 1787.

2. Pennsylvania is located in the north eastern United States and is one of the smaller states. The state would fit fourteen times into Alaska! Pennsylvania is roughly half the size of the UK.

3. Pennsylvania borders Lake Erie in the northern part of the state. Across Lake Erie is Canada's Ontario province.

4. Pennsylvania also borders the neighbouring states Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and New York.

Map of Pennsylvania

5. The capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg. About 50,000 people live in this city along the Susquehanna River. The state capitol and the parliament buildings are located in Harrisburg.

Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River

6. Pennsylvania has a population of more than 13 million people people. The majority of the people in Pennsylvania live in the southern and eastern parts of the state and almost 80% of all people in Pennsylvania live in the cities and metropolitan areas of the state.

7. Philadelphia is Pennsylvania's largest and most populous city with about 1.5 million people and a total of about 6 million inhabitants living in the metropolitan area.

Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River

8. Philadelphia houses some of the most prestigious US universities and colleges with Pennsylvania State University (UPenn), Carnegie Mellon University, Temple University and Drexel University amongst the top ranking institutions of the country.

Pennsylvania Facts for Kids
Pennsylvania Geography

9. Pennsylvania has a diverse topography and five geographical regions. Pennsylvania also shares the Atlantic coastal plains but has no access to the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Pennsylvania is the only state of the thirteen original states that does not border the ocean!

10. There are coastal plains and the piedmont dominates the eastern parts of the state with hills and forests as well as the Appalachian mountains which run through the centre of the state. The northern and western parts are dominated by Allegheny plateau, the Ridge and Valley region and the plains of Lake Erie.

11. The highest mountain of Pennsylvania is located in the Laurel Highlands in southwestern region of the state. The highest mountain is called Mount Davis with an elevation of 979 m/ 3,213 ft above sea level.

View from Mount Davis, Pennsylvania

12. Pennsylvania's northern and western regions have a humid continental climate whereas the eastern and southern parts including the main city Philadelphia have a humid subtropical climate.

Pennsylvania Facts for Kids
Geography Superlatives

13. Pennsylvania is part of five major river basins of the Susquehanna river, the Ohio river, the Delaware river, the Potomac river and the Great Lakes basin.

14. The Susquehanna river is the longest river in Pennsylvania with over 708 km/ 440 miles. This river is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States and one of the oldest rivers of the USA.

The Susquehanna river originates in New York and flows into Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Almost half of Pennsylvania lies in the drainage basin of this river.

Lake Erie lighthouse at dusk

15. Pennsylvania borders Lake Erie in the Northwest, however, this lake is shared with other states. The largest natural lake that is entirely situated in the state is Connaught Lake which is located in western Pennsylvania.

16. The largest artificial lake is Raystown Lake, a reservoir that has been created from hydroelectric project.

Allegheny forest

Pennsylvania Facts | Name and State Symbols

Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg

17. The state has the nickname: "The Keystone State" referring to its geographic position in the middle of the 13 original colonies.

The second state of the USA is known for the Liberty Bell, which is a symbol of independence in the USA. The Liberty Bell is located in Philadelphia.

Liberty Bell in Philadelphia

18. Philadelphia was the first capital of the USA before it was moved to Washington DC in 1800. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution was drafted here in 1787.

19. Pennsylvania was founded for the Quaker community and other religious minorities by William Penn in 1681. The state was named after Penn’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn.

20. The motto of the state is: "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence". The Pennsylvania state colours are blue and gold.

21. The mountain laurel is the state flower. The pink and white bush blooms from late May to mid June.

Did you know that the Philadelphia Flower Show in March is one of the oldest and largest flower shows in the USA? Read more about this fabulous event here.

Mountain laurel - state flower of Pennsylvania

Among the other state symbols are the white tailed deer as the state animal and the Great Dane as the state dog. The ruffed grouse is the state bird.

Pennsylvania Facts | Animals

22. Animals in Pennsylvania are the Eastern grey squirrel, the white-tailed deer, the red fox, the badger, the bald eagle and the black bear, which is known as the largest animal living in this state. 66 mammal species are said to live in the wild in the state of Pennsylvania.

The state bird is the ruffed grouse. This grouse is a game bird that lives mainly in forested area of the USA.

Ruffed grouse

23. Pennsylvania is famous for its groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. This is a major event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

A groundhog or woodchuck is an intelligent large ground squirrel that communicates through whistling. Ground hogs eat mainly wild grasses, dandelion, barks and berries but are omnivores. Groundhogs hibernate in burrows without eating in winter.

Groundhog

The tradition goes that the groundhog predicts the weather each year on Groundhog Day, which is 2 February. If the weather is sunny when the groundhog emerges from its burrow, then there are six more weeks of winter expected.

Groundhog Day

Pennsylvania Facts for Kids | People

24. Native American people have lived in the region of today's state of Pennsylvania for about 12,000 years. The most prominent native groups were the Lenape (mainly now in Delaware), Iroquois, Shawnee and Susquehannock people. During the colonisation of the USA, most of the native people were removed from the region and they were forced to move further westwards.

This bronze statue is located on top of Mt. Washington in Pennsylvania and features George Washington and Seneca leader Guyasuta. The place is called Point of View on Mt. Washington, which is the highest point over Pittsburg and overlooks the three rivers of the city.

pennsylvania point of view monument Zsuzsi Matolcsy

Point of View Monument in Pennsylvania - image by Zsuzsi Matolcsy

25. Among the most famous figures from Pennsylvania are Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the USA and the USA’s first ambassador to France as well as Andrew Carnegie, a major industrialist and philanthropist.

26. Most of the people (68%) in Philadelphia say they are Christians, 41% of these are Protestants. Pennsylvania has the largest Amish community in the USA with about 92,000 Amish. 23% of all Amish people in the USA live in Pennsylvania.

Amish in Pennsylvania - image by George Sheldon

The Amish have very strict lifestyle rules. Machines, cars and technological innovations are still banned in many communities and the horse-drawn carriage is still used as main mode of transport.

The Amish pray and sing in Standard German, but they are all bilingual in English and Pennsylvania Dutch (coming from the term Deitsch which is an old form of German)

27. The most famous food of Pennsylvania is Philli Cheese Steak. The sandwich consists of a long roll filled with thinly sliced beef steak and soft cheese such as Provolone.

Philli Cheese Steak

Facts about Pennsylvania | Economy

28. Pennsylvania has a diverse economy and has the sixth largest economy of all the US states. For many decades, Pennsylvania was the main centre of America’s coal and steel industries, thus Pittsburgh has the nickname "Steel City." Today, the economy is largely based on retail, information, construction and mining.

Coal, crude oil and natural gas are the leading natural resources in Pennsylvania. The first oil well in the USA was drilled in Titusville in 1859!

Hershey's - chocolate factory

Pennsylvania is a leading producer of mushrooms in the USA and Kennett Square/ PA is often referred to as the mushroom capital of the USA. And Hershey/ PA is the chocolate capital, as Hershey's is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world.

Heinz’ tomato ketchup and the polio vaccine are famous inventions that were made in the state.

More Facts about Pennsylvania for kids

29. Pennsylvania Facts | Time Zones: All regions of the large state apply one time zone: Eastern Time. The Central Time Zone (UTC-5:00) is shared also with many US states in the eastern parts of the country and eastern Canada.

Pennsylvania also adheres to daylight saving time during the warmer summer months from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November.

30. Pennsylvania Facts | Famous Landmarks: Among the most visited tourist sites and landmarks in Pennsylvania are:

Raymondskill Falls - tallest waterfalls of Pennsylvania

Raymondskills Falls

Pine Creek Gorge - dubbed the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania
Hershey Park - hocolate-themed amusement park
Gettysburg National Military Park - site of the Civil War battle and President Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address
Bethlehem - Pennsylvania's small town known for the Christmas market and decorations was founded by Moravians in the 18th century
Fallingwater and Bear Run Nature Reserve - This UNESCO world heritage site is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that was built over a waterfall and is surrounded by a pristine nature reserve

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Useful Resources for Pennsylvania Facts for Kids:

This page was created on 17 January 2025.

Fallingwater. "Bear Run Nature Reserve". Fallingwater.org Last accessed 15 June 2023
Visit Pennsylvania. "PA Waterfalls that make a splash". VisitPA. Last accessed 17 January 2025
Pennsylvania Flower Show. "2025 Flower Show." PHS. Last accessed 17 January 2025
Discover Lancaster. "Visit Amish Country." DiscoverLancaster. Last accessed 17 January 2025
Jim West. "Point of View". JimWestSculptor. Last accessed 17 January 2025