Regions of Pennsylvania facts for kids
Regions of Pennsylvania in the United States include:
Contents
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley is named for the Lehigh River, which flows through it. The region includes Allentown, the third-most populous city in Pennsylvania, the neighboring eastern Pennsylvania cities of Bethlehem and Easton, and its more rural suburbs. The region was once a hub for American heavy manufacturing. Its economy is now more diverse, and it has one of the state's fastest growing populations. It consists of two eastern Pennsylvania counties:
- Lehigh County
- Northampton County
- Population (2020): 687,508
Southeastern Pennsylvania
Delaware Valley
The Delaware Valley is named for the Delaware River, which flows through the region. It includes the following five Pennsylvania counties:
- Berks
- Bucks
- Chester
- Delaware
- Montgomery
- Philadelphia
- Population (2020): 6.245 million The Delaware Valley is centered around Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania and sixth-largest city in the nation.
Pennsylvania Piedmont
Pennsylvania's Piedmont region is a heavily agricultural section of the Piedmont Plateau. It consists of the following seven Pennsylvania counties:
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Pennsylvania Dutch Country refers to an area of Pennsylvania, which has a high percentage of Amish, Mennonite, and "Fancy Dutch" residents. The Pennsylvania Dutch language was historically common, and is still spoken today by many Amish people residing in the state.
It consists of the following counties:
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania
This mountainous area of Pennsylvania includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and former anthracite coal mining cities, boroughs, and villages.
Northeastern Pennsylvania consists of the following 14 counties:
- Bradford County
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Luzerne County
- Monroe County
- Montour County
- Northumberland County
- Pike County
- Schuylkill County
- Sullivan County
- Susquehanna County
- Wayne County
- Wyoming County
The Poconos
The Poconos, or the Pocono Mountains region, is a mountainous region of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 km2) located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, approximately 30 miles north of Allentown, which is a nationally popular recreational winter destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports and (in off-season months) for hiking, kayaking, tubing, and other recreational activities.
The region consists of the following four Pennsylvania counties:
May be considered part of the Poconos
Coal Region
The Coal Region is a term used to refer to an area of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains. The region is home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal in the world with an estimated a reserve of seven billion tons.
Wyoming Valley
Wyoming Valley is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania shaped like a crescent and part of the ridge-and-valley or folded Appalachians, which includes the metropolitan areas of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
Consisting of the following counties:
Endless Mountains
The Endless Mountains are a chain of mountains in Northeastern Pennsylvania that are part of the Appalachian Mountains chain. The mountains are not true mountains, geologically speaking, but are a dissected plateau and part of the Allegheny Plateau, along with the higher Catskill Mountains to the east of the Endless Mountains in New York state.
Consisting of the following counties:
Northern Tier
The Northern Tier is a geographic region in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Consisting of the following counties:
Central Pennsylvania
Susquehanna River Valley
The Susquehanna River is a river in the Northeastern United States. At approximately 410 mi (715 km) in length, it is the longest river on the East Coast.
South Central Pennsylvania
South Central Pennsylvania is often referred to as some combination of the following counties:
The following counties are less frequently included in the description of the region:
Southern Alleghenies (West Central)
Southern Alleghenies is a geographic region of West Central Pennsylvania, consisting of the following counties:
Happy Valley
Happy Valley is a large valley located in central Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State University is located in the valley.
Consisting of the following county:
Cumberland Valley
Cumberland Valley is a geographic region that lies between South Mountain and Blue Ridge Mountains of Central Pennsylvania and Western Maryland.
Consisting of the following counties:
Western Pennsylvania
Laurel Highlands
The Laurel Highlands, in the southwestern part of the state of Pennsylvania, traverses the Laurel and Chestnut ridges of the Allegheny Mountains.
Consisting of the following counties:
Greater Pittsburgh
Also known as Southwestern Pennsylvania, the region consists of the following counties:
Allegheny National Forest
The Allegheny National Forest is a National Forest located in northwestern Pennsylvania. The forest covers over 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) of land.
Consisting of the following counties:
Northwestern Pennsylvania
