I.

Introduction

Pennsylvania, in full, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one of the north-eastern states of the United States, bordered on the north by Lake Erie and New York; on the east by New York and New Jersey; on the south by Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia; and on the west by West Virginia and Ohio. The Delaware River forms the entire eastern boundary of the state.

Pennsylvania entered the Union on December 12, 1787, as the second state. It played a central role in the birth of the United States; both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were drawn up and signed in the state, at Philadelphia. Since colonial times Pennsylvania has been an important agricultural state, and it later became a major commercial, manufacturing, and mining state as well. In the early 1990s Pennsylvania remained a national leader in both manufacturing and mining output. President James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania. The name of the state was probably coined by Charles II of England and combines the surname of Admiral William Penn, the father of William Penn, to whom the king granted the colony in 1681, and sylva (Latin, “wood”). Pennsylvania is known as the “Keystone State”.