What is the capital of Pennsylvania?

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania, located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River about 100 miles west of Philadelphia and 200 miles east of Pittsburgh. Harrisburg has been the state capital since 1812, when the legislature chose it because of its central location and proximity to settlements in the western counties that had grown rapidly after independence. Pennsylvania had earlier capitals at Philadelphia (1681 to 1799) and Lancaster (1799 to 1812).

Harrisburg was named after John Harris Sr., who established a trading post and ferry across the Susquehanna in 1719, and his son John Harris Jr., who laid out the town in 1785. The Pennsylvania State Capitol, completed in 1906 with a 272 foot high dome modeled on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, is one of the most ornate state capitols in the country. President Theodore Roosevelt declared at its 1906 dedication that it was "the handsomest building I ever saw."

Harrisburg's population is about 50,000, with a metropolitan area of about 580,000 people. The Susquehanna River is one of the longest non-navigable rivers in the United States, flowing about 444 miles from Cooperstown, New York to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The river divides the city, with the West Shore communities of Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, and New Cumberland on the western bank. The Harrisburg International Airport in nearby Middletown serves the region.

The city's location was strategically important during the Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee invaded Pennsylvania in June 1863 with the goal of threatening major northern cities including Harrisburg, but his force was diverted south to Gettysburg before reaching the capital.

The Pennsylvania state government employs about 70,000 people, with most state agencies headquartered in or near Harrisburg. The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant just south of Harrisburg suffered the most serious nuclear accident in U.S. history on March 28, 1979, when a partial meltdown of one reactor released radioactive gas, accelerating opposition to nuclear power across the country.

Pennsylvania has 67 counties and 2,560 municipalities (boroughs, townships, cities, and the city of Philadelphia, which is also a county). The state has the fifth largest population (about 13 million) and ranks among the top states in the country in steel production, mushroom production, and pretzels. Major universities in Harrisburg's region include Penn State Harrisburg, Dickinson College in Carlisle, Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, and the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks.