Philadelphia
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| Motto: City of Brotherly Love | |
| Subdivision of: | Pennsylvaania, North American League |
| Languages: | |
| Official: | English, Brithenig |
| Others: | Batavian, Scandinavian, Scottish, Cherokee, etc. |
| Lord Mayor: | Jesse de Jacques |
| Area: | 172 mi² |
| Population: | 1,979,281 Philadelphians |
| Established: | 1701, Royal Decree |
Philadelphia is one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in America. It is the capital of the NAL, which includes the official Capitol Building, the Octagon House and the seat of the Viceregal College. It is a sprawling, cosmopolitan metropolis of almost 2 million that has gobbled up a number of surrounding suburbs both in Pennsylvaania and bordering Kent. Naturally, it sports the old colonial Staathaus (now the de jure home of the League's Houses of Parliament, although generally only the 102 Senators meet there today), the Pentangle (a military complex north of the city, along the river), the Covenant Bell (cracked, unfortunately, during the travelling Decade Exhibition in 1813), and a whole host of ancillary offices, bureaus, commissariats, departments, chancelleries, depositories, &c, which are required for the smooth and proper running of Government.
Philadelphia Cricket Club is the home of the Covies; their traditional rivals are the Breuckelen Trollies.
Philadelphia is a planned city, founded and developed in 1682 by William Penn, a Quaker. The city's name means "brotherly love" in Greek (Φιλαδέλφια). Penn hoped that the city, as the capital of his new colony founded on principles of freedom and religious tolerance, would be a model of this philosophy. During early immigration by Quakers and others, immigrants who purchased land in the city also received farmland outside the city; this was intended to allow the population to leave the city easily. Penn also mandated the construction of alleyways and open spaces, in the hope of controlling fires and disease, which were then common problems in London and other major cities. One of the open spaces of colonial era Philadelphia was the Parabolion, an 18th century public park and gardens on a grand scale. It has been since built over, but the lines followed by some of the streets of the new neighbourhoods still follow the sweeping curves of Short's original design.
Probably its most famous newspaper is the Philadelphia Times.
The city is also a major railroad hub. Locally, it is served by the many railways, including the Reading Railroad, the Penn Central (the successor to the Pennsylvania Railroad or "Pennsy") and the Pennsylvaania and Reading Joint Seaside Railway. Public transport is overseen by the Delaware Valley Passenger Transport Executive (or ValleyRide for short), a quasi non-governmental organisation (or quango) that does not run services, but does fund them. The Philadelphia International Aerodrome straddles the southern boundary of the city.
Philadelphia is also famous as being home of the third largest domed building in the world, the Cathedral of St Mary.
