USA Pennsylvania - The People : USA  

USA Pennsylvania - The People - Travel guide

USA

USA Pennsylvania - The People

The People

When William Penn established his colony as a refuge for Quakers, he promised complete religious freedom to other oppressed minorities. As a result, the colony's English Quakers were soon joined by such diverse groups as German Mennonites, French Huguenots, and Scots-Irish Presbyterians. Ever since, Pennsylvania has been home to an exceptional variety of nationalities and religions.

Whites constitute 85.4 percent of the state's population, blacks 10 percent, Asians 1.8 percent, and Native Americans 0.1 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 3,417. People of mixed heritage or not reporting ethnicity were 2.7 percent of all inhabitants. Hispanics, who may be of any race, made up 3.2 percent of the population.

The 1998 census put Pennsylvania's population at 12,001,000. The State Capital is Harrisburg, other major cities or towns include Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Upper Darby, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem, Lower Merion and Bensalem.