Global InformationDelaware Valley information
Delaware Valley
Greater Philadelphia Philadelphia metropolitan area Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA | |
|---|---|
Metropolitan area | |
 Center City Philadelphia (in background) and the Schuylkill River (on left) as seen from South Street Bridge in July 2016 | |
 Map of the Lower Delaware Valley metropolitan area with most of the area highlighted in yellow; other parts of the Delaware Valley include Atlantic and Cape May counties in South Jersey, and Dover in northern Delaware | |
| Country |  United States |
| State(s) | -  Pennsylvania-  New Jersey-  Delaware -  Maryland |
| Principal city | Philadelphia |
| Satellite cities and towns | Camden Wilmington Atlantic City Reading Trenton[a] Vineland Conshohocken Dover Chester Upper Darby Media Middletown Township Hammonton Pennsauken Township Norristown Doylestown Cherry Hill West Chester Evesham Washington Township Millville Salem Cape May Court House Lower Township The Wildwoods Brigantine Ventnor City Margate City Ocean City Sea Isle City Haverford Bridgeton Coatesville Lower Merion Gloucester Township Downingtown Phoenixville New Castle Pottstown King of Prussia Bensalem Township Burlington City and Burlington Township Middle Township (Cape May County) Mount Holly Newark Hamilton Township (Mays Landing) Woodbury Elkton Cheltenham Township Abington Township Bristol Township Mount Laurel Northampton Township Winslow Township New Hope Falls Township Middletown Township (Bucks County) Egg Harbor Township Galloway Township Pennsville Maurice River Township |
| Area | |
| • Urban | 1,981.4 sq mi (5,131.7 km2) |
| • Metro | 5,118 sq mi (13,256 km2) |
| Elevation [1][dubious ][2] | 0 - 1,080 ft (0 - 329 m) |
| Population (2021 est.) | |
| • Urban | 5,441,567 (5th) |
| • Metro density | 1,217.00/sq mi (469.89/km2) |
| • MSA | 6,228,601 (7th) |
| • CSA | 7,366,346 (9th) |
| MSA/CSA = 2021, Urban = 2010 | |
| GDP [3] | |
| • MSA | $518.5 billion (2022) |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EST) |
| Area codes | 215/267/445, 302, 410/443/667, 609/640, 610/484/835, 717/223, 856 |
The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a metropolitan region in the Northeast United States that centers around Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city, and spans parts of four U.S. states: southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. With a core metropolitan statistical area population of 6.288 million residents and a combined statistical area population of 7.366 million as of the 2020 census, the Delaware Valley is the eighth-largest metropolitan region in the nation and North America, and the 68th-largest metropolitan region in the world.
In addition to Philadelphia, other major urban population centers in the Delaware Valley include Reading, Upper Darby Township, and Chester in Pennsylvania; Atlantic City, Camden, Vineland, and Cherry Hill in South Jersey; and Wilmington and Dover in Delaware. The Philadelphia metropolitan area's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds $518 billion, making it the tenth-largest metropolitan economy in the nation as of 2022.
The Delaware Valley has been influential in the nation's history and economy. The area has been home to many people and sites significant to American culture, history, and politics. Philadelphia is sometimes known as "The Birthplace of America",[4] since it served as the revolutionary capital during the colonial era, where the Second Continental Congress gathered at Independence Hall to unanimously adopt the Declaration of Independence, authorize the formation of the Continental Army, and appoint George Washington its commander to resist the British. Following the Continental Army's victory, Philadelphia served as the nation's first capital for most of the 18th century until 1800, when construction of Washington, D.C. was completed. In 1789, the U.S. Constitution, the longest-standing body of federal law, was ratified at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1789.
The Delaware Valley is one of the nation's leading regions for academia and academic research with a considerable number of globally-known and highly ranked universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, one of eight Ivy League universities in the nation. Other universities and colleges and Philadelphia include Drexel University, Thomas Jefferson University, Rowan University, Villanova University, Saint Joseph's University, Temple University, Rutgers University–Camden, La Salle University, the University of Delaware, Stockton University, and others.[5] Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley are a biotechnology hub.[6] As of 2023, metropolitan Philadelphia had entered the ranks of the top five U.S. venture capital centers, facilitated by its relative proximity to the New York metropolitan area and its entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems.[7] Elsewhere in the Delaware Valley, South Jersey has emerged as an East Coast epicenter for logistics and major warehouses.[8]
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- ^ "Welsh Mountain". Retrieved May 5, 2016.
- ^ "MyTopo – Welsh Mountain area". Retrieved May 5, 2016.
- ^ "Total Gross Domestic Product for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (MSA)". fred.stlouisfed.org.
- ^ "Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for Philadelphia and Boston". Voice of America. April 3, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Tucker, Laura (November 25, 2014). "Philadelphia". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
- ^ Eramian, Daniel (November 2, 2020). "Is Philadelphia's biotech cluster faltering? Experts say no". STAT. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Q1 2023". PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Jon Hurdle (May 13, 2021). "Report details surge in warehouse construction…". NJ Spotlight News. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
In South Jersey, the area has become the "epicenter" of warehouse construction in the greater Philadelphia region..'Activity in the Southern New Jersey industrial market continues to amaze,' the report said.