Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is one of four states of the United States of America that is called a commonwealth. It has given its name to the Pennsylvanian time period in geology. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State.

Demographics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2004, Pennsylvania's population was 12,406,292 placing it 6th in population in the country. The Commonwealth has one of the fastest growing Asian and Hispanic populations in the nation with percentage increases well over a 100%. Most of the Asian immigrants are Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Arab such as Pakistani and Saudi. The Hispanic immigration mostly consists of people from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central and South America. During the 1970s and 1980s, Pennsylvania grew sluggishly. In the 1990s and into 2000, more people from other states (migrants) started moving to Pennsylvania. Foreign immigration has also picked up for the first time since World War II.

Related Topics:
U.S. Census Bureau - Immigration

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Pennsylvania is mainly white in certain areas such as the far northeast, north central, and some areas around Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Metro and the surrounding counties and the state as a whole are a true melting pot with large numbers of Blacks, Hispanics, South Asians, East Asians, and Arabs.

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Race and Ancestry

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The racial makeup of the state is:

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• 84.1% White
• 10.0% Black
• 3.2% Hispanic
• 1.8% Asian
• 0.1% Native American
• 1.2% Mixed race

Population estimates predict Pennsylvania's population to be around 77.2% White in 2010, or lower. This rapid decrease of the state's white population is due to huge growth in the state's non-white population. Most of this diversity growth is concentrated in the Philadelphia Metro, and the Lehigh Valley, but large non-white growth is statewide.

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The five largest ancestry groups in Pennsylvania are: German (25.4%), Irish (16.1%), Italian (11.5%), African American (10%), English (7.9%).

Related Topics:
German - Irish - Italian - African American - English

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Pennsylvanians of German ancestry live in most areas of the state outside of Philadelphia. Northeastern Pennsylvania has residents of British ancestry on the New York border and there are many Polish-Americans in the Scranton area. Philadelphia has a black plurality and smaller black populations are located in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Irish-Americans are the single largest ancestry group in Delaware county and the overall Philadelphia metropolitan area. Pennsylvania has more Slovaks and Welsh than any other state. Pennsylvania also has among the largest populations of Germans, Irish, Italians, and Russians of any state, and the most Ukrainians of any state besides New York.

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5.9% of Pennsylvania's population were reported as under 5, 23.8% under 18, and 15.6% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.7% of the population.

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Religion

Historically, the Quakers pursued a policy of religious toleration at the founding of Penn's colony (Pennsylvania), which benefited other older groups, such as Lutherans from the New Sweden settlement, and which also attracted religious refugees from the European continent, such as Amish and Mennonites. Other groups also settled, including the Moravian Bretheren, who founded and named today's large city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who settled on the frontier. This was a fairly diverse group of denominations by Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century standards, and testifies to the benign administration of Penn.

Related Topics:
Quakers - New Sweden - Amish - Mennonites - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - Scotch-Irish - Presbyterians

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Later, after industrialization, immigrants from the Catholic countries of Europe started coming in large numbers to Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia today stands a shrine to and the burial place of Saint John Neumann, himself a Czech immigrant, who worked for the betterment of the new arrivals and who founded the American parochial school system. Pennsylvania has one of the largest Jewish populations in the country, with about 440,000. Mass immigration to Pennsylvania in the past 20 years has brought large numbers of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs to the state.

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The current religious affiliations of the people of Pennsylvania are:

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• Christian – 83%
• Protestant – 55%
• Methodist – 10%
• Baptist – 10%
• Lutheran – 9%
• Presbyterian – 5%
• United Church of Christ – 2%
• Amish/Pietist – 1%
• Other Protestant or general Protestant – 18%
• Roman Catholic – 27%
• Other Christian – 1%
• Jewish (religious only) – 2%
• Other Religions – 2%
• Non-Religious – 13%