Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh [ˈpɪtsbɝɡ] is a major city in the southwestern U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Appalachian Plateau region about 45 kilometres (45 mi) from the Ohio border in a basin at the confluence of the Monongahela River and the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River. The city is 151.1 km² in size and had a population of 305,704 in 2010, of which 64.8% were white and 25.8% were black. It is the largest city in the Appalachian industrial region and the second largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh is the seat of Allegheny County and the economic, political, and cultural center of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, itself the second largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, with a population of approximately 2.36 million (2010).

The town's history began in 1758 at the time of the Seven Years' War, when a British fort was built here under the name Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. Due to its convenient location on the rivers and nearby ore and coal deposits, the town grew in the 19th century to become the most important location for the U.S. steel industry, which shaped the town well into the 20th century.

Since the steel crisis of the 1970s, Pittsburgh has gone through a sustained phase of structural change, which was characterized by considerable economic difficulties. The attempt to limit the negative consequences and to place the city on a new economic footing was above average in comparison to other industrial cities in the Rust Belt, so that Pittsburgh is now considered a prime example of successful structural change in the USA.

In 2009, the G20 summit took place in Pittsburgh.

Geography

The city is located at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in southwestern Pennsylvania, which here form the Ohio River. Through weirs and locks, all three are navigable year-round. At the point of confluence, moreover, the underground stream Wisconsin Glacial Flow comes to light and feeds a fountain. Major commodities in the region are coal (mostly historic) and natural gas.

Climate