Pennsylvania Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Local government=== [[File:Pennsylvania-counties-map.gif|thumb|[[List of counties in Pennsylvania|Map of Pennsylvania's 67 counties]]]] Pennsylvania is divided into 67 [[county (United States)|counties]].<ref name="PA Manual 6-3">''The Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6-3.</ref> Counties are further subdivided into municipalities that are either incorporated as cities, [[Borough (Pennsylvania)|boroughs]], or [[Township (Pennsylvania)|townships]].<ref name="PA Manual 6-5">''Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6-5.</ref> The most populous county in Pennsylvania and [[List of the most populous counties in the United States|24th-most populous county]] in the United States is [[Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia County]], which includes the city of [[Philadelphia]], with a 2020 population of 1,603,797; the state's least populous county is [[Cameron County, Pennsylvania|Cameron]] with a population of 4,547.<ref name="pasdc.hbg.psu.edu" /> There are a total of 56 cities in Pennsylvania, which are classified by population as either first-class, second-class, or third-class cities.<ref name="PA Manual 6-3" /><ref>''The Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6-46.</ref> Philadelphia, the state's largest city with a population exceeding 1.6 million, is Pennsylvania's only first-class city.<ref name="PA Manual 6-5" /> [[Pittsburgh]] (303,000) and [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]] (76,000) are second-class and second-class 'A' cities, respectively.<ref name="PA Manual 6-5" /> All of the state's remaining cities including [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]], the state's third-largest city, and [[Reading, Pennsylvania|Reading]], its fourth-largest, to [[Parker, Pennsylvania|Parker]], the state's smallest city with a population of only 820, are designated as third-class cities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Pennsylvania |year=2010 |website=Population Estimates |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |url=https://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2009-04-42.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709111603/http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2009-04-42.xls |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 9, 2011 |format=[[Microsoft Excel|XLS]] |access-date=July 4, 2010 }}</ref> First- and second-class cities are governed by a "strong mayor" form of [[mayor–council government]], whereas third-class cities are governed by either a "weak mayor" form of government or a [[council–manager government]].<ref name="PA Manual 6-5" /> Pennsylvania boroughs are generally smaller in population than the state's cities, and most of the state's cities were incorporated as boroughs prior to being designated cities.<ref name="PA Manual 6-5" /> There are 958 boroughs in Pennsylvania, all of which are governed by the "weak mayor" form of mayor-council government.<ref name="PA Manual 6-3" /><ref name="PA Manual 6-5" /> The largest borough in Pennsylvania is [[State College, Pennsylvania|State College]] (40,501) and the smallest is [[Centralia, Pennsylvania|Centralia]]. Townships are the third type of municipality in Pennsylvania and are classified as either first-class or second-class townships. There are 1,454 second-class townships and 93 first-class townships.<ref name="PA Manual 6-6">''The Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6-6.</ref> Second-class townships can become first-class townships if they have a population density greater than {{Convert|300|PD/sqmi}} and a [[referendum]] is passed supporting the change.<ref name="PA Manual 6-6" /> Pennsylvania's largest township is [[Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania|Upper Darby Township]] (85,681), and the smallest is [[East Keating Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania|East Keating Township]]. There is one exception to the types of municipalities in Pennsylvania: [[Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania|Bloomsburg]] was incorporated as a town in 1870 and is, officially, the only town in the state.<ref>''The Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6-22.</ref> In 1975, [[McCandless Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|McCandless Township]] adopted a home-rule charter under the name of "Town of McCandless", but is, legally, still a first-class township.<ref>Title 302, [[Pennsylvania Code]], Section 23.1–101.</ref> The state has 56 cities, 958 boroughs, 93 first-class townships, 1,454 second-class townships, and one town (Bloomsburg) for a total of 2,562 municipalities. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page