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The Commemorative
Quarter for
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The Commemorative Quarter for Pennsylvania





Welcome to Philadelphia ...

The city of Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia County<1> and is the County Seat for Philadelphia County.

When the people of Philadelphia refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Philadelphian<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Philadelphia has a population of 1,584,439 people<3> (see below for details).

Philadelphia is 30 feet [9 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Philadelphia lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The community of Philadelphia was established in 1682.

Websites for Philadelphia ...

Official Website:   www.phila.gov/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.philachamber.com/

Junior League:   www.juniorleaguephila.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Philadelphia had an population of 1,584,439 people. This is an increase of 3.83% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 4.41% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Philadelphia had a population of 1,526,006 people (or 100% of the total population of Philadelphia County). This makes Philadelphia the county's most populous community.

The population of Philadelphia represents 12.01% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 1,526,006 people, the population of Philadelphia has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (with a count of 1,517,550 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Philadelphia.

Communities Also Named Philadelphia ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 18 communities that are also named Philadelphia - they are located in Alabama (2), Arkansas (2), Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina (2), South Carolina, Tennessee (4) and Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Philadelphia.

Communities near Philadelphia ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Philadelphia.

  • Norristown
  • Chester
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Chester lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<5> to the southwest of Philadelphia.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,692 people
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Chester
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester<6>
  • Burlington
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
    • Burlington lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<5> to the northeast of Philadelphia.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,840 people
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Burlington
  • Woodbury
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury
    • Woodbury lies 7 miles [11.3 km]<5> to the south of Philadelphia.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,813 people
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Woodbury
  • Bristol
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
    • Bristol lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<5> to the northeast of Philadelphia.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,573 people
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Bristol
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bristol<6>
  • Brookhaven
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
    • Brookhaven lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<5> to the southwest of Philadelphia.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,053 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Brookhaven
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookhaven<6>
  • Conshohocken
  • Hatboro
  • Glenolden
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenolden
    • Glenolden lies 7 miles [11.3 km]<5> to the southwest of Philadelphia.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,098 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenolden have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Glenolden
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenolden<6>
  • Ridley Park

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Philadelphia. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Philadelphia.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Philadelphia. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Philadelphia.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Philadelphia. Our list includes 1,125 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Philadelphia.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Philadelphia ...

Looking for more information about Philadelphia? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Philadelphia, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Philadelphia.

Adding Philadelphia to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Philadelphia in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention that we've found for Philadelphia was on a map (with an unknown title) dated 1860.

We also found Philadelphia in the Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details about the above, see References and Mentions for Philadelphia.

The official website for Philadelphia: www.phila.gov/

The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Philadelphia, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Philadelphia refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Philadelphia may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Philadelphia.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Philadelphia - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Philadelphia) to Point B.If you need the driving distance, we recommend that you use one of the Mapping Services listed on our Map Page for Philadelphia. Since we usually use Google Maps, we've provided the following link for your convenience: Google Map and Driving Directions starting from PhiladelphiaOur distance measurements begin at a specific point in Philadelphia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9524, Longitude: -75.1636    
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.




 

 

 

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This page was last modified/updated: 30 Mar 2023