Philadelphia

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Philadelphia Overview

The fourth largest city in the U.S., Philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love, the birthplace of cheese steaks, the home of liberty, and the land of Rocky. William Penn founded Philadelphia in the late 1600’s and called it his “religious experiment” because of his desire to see it as a city where people of all religions could live.

Philadelphia is also known as the “city of firsts” because so many of the country’s firsts happened here. According to the 2000 census, 1.5 million people live inside the city limits with another 3.6 million living in the greater metro area. The population is 42.5% white, 42.6% African-American, 4.5% Asian, 8.5% Hispanic and about 1.8% other races. The city covers 135 square miles.