Delaware Valley Greater Philadelphia Southeastern Pennsylvania Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA |
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Metropolitan Statistical Area | |||||
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Map of the Lower Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area |
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Country | United States | ||||
State | - Pennsylvania - New Jersey - Delaware - Maryland |
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Principal cities |
Philadelphia, Camden & Wilmington CSA: Reading, Trenton, Atlantic City, Vineland, Hammonton, Dover |
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Area | |||||
• Urban | 1,981.4 sq mi (5,131.7 km2) | ||||
• Metro | 5,118 sq mi (13,256 km2) | ||||
Elevation | 0 - 1,080 ft (0 - 329 m) | ||||
Population (2013 est.) | |||||
• Density | 2,746.32/sq mi (1,060.36/km2) | ||||
• Urban | 5,441,567 (5th) | ||||
• MSA | 6,034,678 (6th) | ||||
• CSA | 7,146,706 (8th) | ||||
MSA/CSA = 2013, Urban = 2010 | |||||
Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||||
• Summer (DST) | EST (UTC-4) |
The Delaware Valley is the valley through which the Delaware River flows. By extension, this toponym is commonly used to refer to the Philadelphia metropolitan area ("the [Lower] Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area"), which straddles the Lower Delaware River just north of its estuary.
In geology and geography, a strict sense of the term would incorporate the Delaware River's main drainage basin, and so encompass major tributaries such as the Schuylkill River and Lehigh River and their valleys or sub-basins. These extensions also apply culturally with decreasing degree gradually decreased by proximal distance because the ease of land travel enables a great deal of daily interaction; for example, the large number of commuters who travel daily 45–90 minutes creates cultural blends and parallel values.
The Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area is located at the southern part of the Northeast megalopolis extending from Boston to Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas.
The Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area is composed of several counties in southeastern Pennsylvania and southwestern New Jersey, one county in northern Delaware and one county in northeastern Maryland. The MSA has a population of over 6 million, while the CSA has a population of over 7.1 million (as of the 2010 Census Bureau count). Philadelphia, being the region's major commercial, cultural, and industrial center, wields a rather large sphere of influence that affects the counties that immediately surround it.
As of March 2011, the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA–NJ–DE–MD Metropolitan Statistical Area constitutes the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Its CSA ranks 8th.