| Philadelphia | |
| City in the United States | |
| Location | |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Philadelphia County |
| Coordinates | 39°57’10″N, 75°9’49″WL |
| General | |
| Surface | 369.59 km² |
| – country | 347.78 km² |
| – water | 21.81 km² |
| Residents (April 1, 2020) |
1,603,797 (4612 inhabitant/km²) |
| – agglomeration | 6,533,683 (2010) |
| Politics | |
| Mayor | Jim Kenney (D) |
| Website | phila.gov |
The skyline of Philadelphia at night
According to Agooddir, Philadelphia is a city in the US state of Pennsylvania, in the east of the country. With over 1.5 million inhabitants (2014), it is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth largest city in the United States. Philadelphia is the heart of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region, which is home to a total of 7.2 million residents.
The city was founded in 1681 by the Quaker William Penn and played an important role in the early history of the United States. For example, between 1790 and 1800, Philadelphia served as the capital and the United States Declaration of Independence was signed there. Historic buildings such as Independence Hall, Liberty Bell Center, and Philadelphia City Hall are reminders of the city’s rich past. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an important center for industry and railroads, attracting many European migrants. In the first half of the 20th century, many African Americans camelive from the South. After the decline of local industry, Philadelphia experienced a period of decline, but since the late 1990s, many neighborhoods have begun a process of gentrification. Since the 1960s, the city has been controlled by Democrats. In January 2016, Jim Kenney became mayor.
The information technology, health care and paper industries are important economic sectors for the city and several major US companies such as Comcast Corporation, Aramark and FMC Corporation are located in the old capital. The main educational institution in the city is the University of Pennsylvania. In terms of sports, the metropolis is represented in all major American sports. She also has an old rowing tradition. The prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra hails from the city, and next to it are the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Rodin Museum.located within the city limits.
Popularly, the place is also known as Philly. Other nicknames for the city include The City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia means Brotherly Love), Quaker City, and The Big Scrapple.
Education
The Fisher Fine Arts Library is located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania and was designed by architect Frank Furness.
Philadelphia has the fourth largest student population on the East Coast of the United States, with more than 120,000 students living in the city itself and more than 300,000 in the urban conglomeration. The former capital has a total of more than eighty colleges, universities and vocational schools. The University of Pennsylvania, which is part of the Ivy League, claims to be the oldest university in the country. Philadelphia has other universities, including La Salle University, the University of the Arts, Wharton School and Saint Joseph’s University. Also the leading conservatory Curtis Institute of Musicis an important educational institution in the city. More than a quarter of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher degree.
Governance and politics
City Council
Mayor Jim Kenney
Philadelphia is governed by an elected mayor who serves a four-year term and can be re-elected a maximum of once. The mayor is assisted in the administration of the city by the Philadelphia City Council, which consists of ten councilors representing the various city districts and seven other members. On January 6, 2016, Democrat Jim Kenney was sworn in as the city’s 99th mayor. He then succeeded the also Democratic Michael Nutter, who was not eligible for re-election after two terms.
Philadelphia is home to several courts, including the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. Founded in 1751 and currently employing 6,600 officers, the Philadelphia Police Department is responsible for law enforcement in the city.
Politics
From the American Civil War to the 1950s, Philadelphia was a predominantly Republican city. The Republican Party’s first national convention was held in Philadelphia in 1856. After the crisis of the 1930s, Democrats increased in number. In the 1936 presidential election, Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt won a majority for the first time. Since then, the city’s majority has always voted Democratic in presidential elections. Since 1952, all of the city’s mayors have been Democrats. Democrats are also in the majority in the City Council.
As of December 31, 2015, there were 1,003,518 registered voters in Philadelphia. 78 percent are Democrat, while 11 percent are registered Republicans. Another 11 percent of registered voters indicated no or other party preference in the survey.
| Percentage of Voters by Party in Philadelphia County in Presidential Election | ||||||||||||||||
| Year | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 |
| Democrats | 68.0% | 73.4% | 61.8% | 55.1% | 66.3% | 58.7% | 64.9% | 66.6% | 68.2% | 77.4% | 80.0% | 80.4% | 83.0% | 85.2% | 82.3% | 81.3% |
| Republicans | 31.8% | 26.2% | 29.9% | 43.9% | 32.0% | 34.0% | 34.6% | 32.5% | 20.9% | 16.0% | 18.0% | 19.3% | 16.3% | 14.0% | 15.3% | 17.9% |
Town twinning
Philadelphia has twinning links with several cities and has its own Sister Cities Park on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in honor of those ties. The city has twinning with the following cities or regions:
- Abruzzo (Italy)
- Aix-en-Provence (France)
- Douala (Cameroon)
- Florence (Italy)
- Frankfurt (Germany)
- Incheon (South Korea)
- Kobe (Japan)
- Nizhny Novgorod (Russia)
- Tel Aviv (Israel)
- Tianjin (China)
- Torun (Poland)
