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Our Pennsylvania Story
L E S S ON 9
Our Population and Cities
Get toKnowMe
1. population 2. census 3. urban 4. suburbs 5. rural 6. manufacturing
FindMeOn TheMap (On Page 4)
1. Philadelphia 2. Pittsburgh 3. MonongahelaRiver 4. Allegheny River 5. OhioRiver
6. Allentown 7. Bethlehem 8. Easton
9. Erie
10. Lake Erie
Population
is aword that means the number of peoplewho live in a certain place or
area. What is the population of your classroom? Of your school? Of your community?
The population in our country is counted every ten years. This is called a
census
.
Soon, the United States will havemore than 300million people. Each state counts the
number of people livingwithin its borders.
More than 12million people live in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has the sixth (6th)
largest population in our country. Only California, NewYork, Texas, Florida, and Illinois
havemore people livingwithin their state borders. Find these states on amap.
About seven out of 10 people in our state live in an
urban
area. This includes cities
and their
suburbs
. Suburbs are small communities that are located close to cities. This
would leave three out of 10 people living in
rural
regions, or small towns.
A community can become a city if more than 10,000 people live there. Our state has
many different sizes of cities. The smaller communities that grow near a large city are
called suburbs. Whenmany smaller suburbs grow around a large city, it is called an
urban area. Read on to find out more about our larger cities.
Philadelphia
is our largest city. Withmore than 1.5
million people, it is the sixth (6th) largest city in our
country. However, there aremore than 5million
people living in this urban area.
Philadelphia is located on the Delaware River in
eastern Pennsylvania. William Penn started the city of
Philadelphia. Its namemeans “City of Brotherly Love.”
Philadelphia has one of theworld’s largest
freshwater ports. A port is a placewhere ships can
load and unload goods. Thousands of ships from all
over theworld come to and leave from Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is also one of our country’s leading
cities in banking, trade, and
manufacturing
. Manufacturingmeans themaking of goods
and products. Because Philadelphia is “The Birthplace of our Nation,” thousands of
tourists visit here.
