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Pennsylvania, a middle-Atlantic state in the eastern U.S., is bordered by New Jersey (across the Delaware River) to the east, Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, and Lake Erie and New York to the north.
With an area of 46,058 square miles (119,290 square kilometers) (1239 square miles (3,209 square kilometers) of that water), Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest state. It measures 310 miles (499 kilometers) from east to west and 180 miles (290 kilometers) from north to south. The mean elevation is 1,100 feet (335 meters) above sea level with a highest point, at Mt. Davis in Somerset County, of 3,213 feet (979 meters) and the lowest point at sea level in the Delaware River.
In the northwest the rugged Appalachian Plateau, covering more than half the area of the state in the western and northern sections, falls to the Lake Erie lowlands and then into the lake. The Allegheny Mountains, lining the eastern edge of the plateau, run across the center of the state diagonally from the southwest to the northeast. The Piedmont Plateau runs into Atlantic Coastal Plains in the southeastern triangle of the state.
Major rivers in the state are the Delaware and Susquehanna in the east and the Allegheny and Monongahela in the west, which form the Ohio at Pittsburgh. Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes, is the state’s major lake. The great forests and lush vegetation that once covered the entire state have long ago transformed into deposits of anthracite coal in the northeast and bituminous beds in the west, though large areas of woodland do remain.
Pennsylvania enjoys a distinct four-season climate complete with hot humid summers, vibrant autumns and snowy winters. Average temperatures in the state range from a high of 86.2 degrees F (30.1 degrees C) in the summer to 18 degrees F (7.8 degrees C) in the winter. Annual precipitation averages 41 inches (104 centimeters), with annual snowfall ranging from an average of 20.8 inches (53 centimeters) in Philadelphia to 89.4 inches (227 centimeters) in Erie. The state’s most famous animal, the world-renowned weather forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, garners yearly attention with his predictions for the end of winter.
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