Located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern part of the US is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is bordered by New Jersey to the east, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada to the north and Delaware and Maryland to the south, with West Virginia to the southwest. Harrisburg is the state capital. Pennsylvania has its four most populous cities being Erie, Allentown, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
For 51 miles, the state of Pennsylvania has coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. The state has a robust African American population with possibly the biggest White American populations, according to the 2000 and 2010 census.
In 2008, Pennsylvania's GSP or total Gross State Product was $553.3 billion which ranks the state 6th in the country. If Pennsylvania were an independent country, its economy would rank number 18 in the world. Amongst the 50 states, the state of Pennsylvania ranks number 26 on a per capita basis in accordance with their GSP of $35,641.
Many areas of the Commonwealth are rural. This dichotomy affects the state politics as well as state economy. Philadelphia is found within the southeast corner, Erie is in the northwest corner, Pittsburgh is in the southwest corner and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is the urban manufacturing centers situated within the central eastern part. Philadelphia is home to 6 Fortune 500 companies. There are more located within the suburbs, such as, King of Prussia; it is a leader in the insurance and financial trade.
There are 8 Fortune 500 companies found within the city of Pittsburgh. Among these include: U.S. Steel. PPG Industries and H.J. Heinz. GE Transportation Systems is likewise the largest producer of train locomotives in the United States and they are found within Erie.
The largest private company within the Commonwealth is Wal-Mart, similar to most of the states. The University of Pennsylvania is the second. Based upon statistics from January 2010, Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is 8.8%.