Western Pennsylvania is distinctive from the rest of the state due to several important and complex factors:

The initial difficulty of transportation access from the east across miles of seemingly endless parallel ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, and then the broken hills and valleys of the Allegheny Plateau, all of which were covered in thick forests. Indeed the initial method of access was to go out of Pennsylvania altogether, follow the Potomac River northwest through Maryland and Virginia, and then re-enter the state in its southwest corner. Various methods of more direct transport were later tried, including a canal system over the Appalachians and then, later, the Pennsylvania Railroad which extended the railroad systems of the East Coast west to Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley. Perhaps the best known transportation innovation to simplify access to this area is the famous

Pennsylvania Turnpike, the first modern limited access highway in North America.

The initial problem was economic marketing of a limited number of goods that could stand such high freight costs. The insensitivity of the new U.S. Federal Government to the marketing problems in the west led to the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania, an event which seriously challenged the political viability of the new American nation. Later marketing arrangements turned to access via the Ohio River, with Pittsburgh a barge and steamboat center of the mid-continent. Today, Pittsburgh is still strongly oriented to the rivers; the port of Pittsburgh ranks No. 13 by tonnage in the USA and even surpasses the Port of Philadelphia in tonnage, due to the heavy shipping of bulk coal by barge inland on the rivers.[2] Locally, a system of agriculture arose suitable to Western Pennsylvania's rugged terrain, emphasizing animal husbandry and dairying but with few exportable vegetable crops. The search for some sort of exportable agricultural specialty perhaps also encouraged the rise of the sauce industry and its first location at Sharpsburg in what was later to become the large H.J. Heinz Company.

The search for exploitable resources first resulted with the development of huge bituminous coal or "soft" coal deposits in the area for use in a growing iron foundry sector. However, it was not until the realization by Andrew Carnegie, that Western Pennsylvania possessed an optimum location for a very large scale American steel sector, that this area, especially Pittsburgh, became known for the industrial specialty that characterizes it today. The region also had large glass, pottery, brickmaking, and ceramic industries, which took advantage of the coal and the sand and clay in local soils. The rise and subsequent decline of the American steel industry at Pittsburgh introduces a host of complex economic concepts necessary to understand why that particular activity centered in this particular place, including the notions of classical Weberian location analysis for more than one input, the Pittsburgh Plus system for maintaining advantageous freight costs to ship to the market, vertical integration and supply innovations such as the development of the Mesabi Range, the ore freighter as a transport vehicle, and the construction of the Soo Locks. Other necessary economic concepts for description could well include economies of scale, diseconomies of scale, monopoly (or cartel) price equilibrium, and "dumping". Labor relations problems historically were frequent in the earlier steel sector, and mention should be made of the United Steel Workers of America, as well as the contemporary issue of "legacy costs" arising from heavy entitlements to a large retired labor force after sharply downsizing to today's level of employment.

Other exploitable resources in Western Pennsylvania were also distinct. One was the drilling of the first oil well in the world at Titusville and the rise of the US petroleum industry. Another was widespread deforestation of the outlying areas and their subsequent reforestation under Gifford Pinchot, who instituted the first large scale government sponsored timber management effort in the USA. During this time of intensive exploitation of forests a whole new sector, the wood chemistry industry, appeared and then later vanished. Finally, mention should also be made of management in the forested areas of a large animal population which supports the famous "Pennsylvania deer-hunting" cultural ethos. Indeed, the first day of deer-hunting season is a de facto unofficial holiday in much of the central and northern regions of the state, when absence from work or school is generally tolerated with no explanation necessary.

Since the early 1950s, a renaissance occurred in the development of cultural institutions and abatement of pollution in Pittsburgh and its surrounding area. The effects of this increase in livability are particularly apparent in the Golden Triangle district of downtown Pittsburgh, which at one point had been plagued with so much industrial haze that drivers used their headlights in mid-day. However, this social improvement has not always been accompanied by a serious plan of regional economic development to assess what, precisely, should fill the income void after the departure of steel. In addition, the city of Pittsburgh continues to become de-populated and has recently been put under state supervision of its finances.

Culturally, the distinctiveness of Western Pennsylvania is underlined by the existence of a unique local dialect called "Pittsburghese" or Pittsburgh English, sometimes affectionately termed the "yinzer" dialect, due to its use of the term "yins" (also spelled "yunz, "yinz", "youns", etc.) as the plural form of "you". Western Pennsylvanians also refer to soft drinks as "pop" while in the eastern half of the state it is referred to as "soda."[3]

Near Shanksville, Somerset County, is the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, the "Let's Roll" flight which occurred on 9/11 after passengers attempted to overpower the plane's hijackers. The site is an informal patriotic shrine with many hand-made mementos voluntarily gracing the area. There is a movement to add the site to the National Park System. It is a startling coincidence that the Shanksville site is comparatively close to the other centuries-earlier locations of military engagements in Western Pennsylvania, such as Fort Duquesne and the area of the Whiskey Rebellion. This can in part be explained by the fact that all these locations were on a strategic route from eastern settlements in Pennsylvania and Virginia (and, later, Washington, D.C.) to the West.

The Erie Triangle and the city of Erie give Pennsylvania a port along the Great Lakes. The Erie region is also known for its distinct agriculture, centered around grapes and other fruit, due to the moderating climatic influence (in summer) from the Lake. (In winter, the area is often inundated with "lake-effect" snow.) There are also small commercial fresh-water fisheries and many streams and smaller lakes with a variety of fish to catch, including yellow perch and walleye.

Aliquippa
Arnold
Beaver Falls
Butler
Clairton
Connellsville
Duquesne
Greensburg
Jeannette
Latrobe
Lower Burrell
McKeesport
Monessen
Monongahela
New Kensington
Parker
Pittsburgh (Principal city)
Uniontown
Washington
Adamsburg
Allenport
Ambridge
Apollo
Applewold
Arona
Aspinwall
Atwood
Avalon
Avonmore
Baden
Baldwin
Beallsville
Beaver
Bell Acres
Belle Vernon
Bellevue
Ben Avon Heights
Ben Avon
Bentleyville
Bethel Park
Big Beaver
Blawnox
Bolivar
Brackenridge
Braddock Hills
Braddock
Bradford Woods
Brentwood
Bridgeville
Bridgewater
Brownsville
Bruin
Burgettstown
California
Callery
Canonsburg
Carnegie
Castle Shannon
Centerville
Chalfant
Charleroi
Cherry Valley
Cheswick
Chicora
Churchill
Claysville
Coal Center
Cokeburg
Connoquenessing
Conway
Coraopolis
Crafton
Darlington
Dawson
Dayton
Deemston
Delmont
Derry
Donegal
Donora
Dormont
Dravosburg
Dunbar
Dunlevy
East Butler
East McKeesport
East Pittsburgh
East Rochester
East Vandergrift
East Washington
Eastvale
Eau Claire
Economy
Edgewood
Edgeworth
Elco
Elderton
Elizabeth
Ellsworth
Ellwood City
Emsworth
Etna
Evans City
Everson
Export
Fairchance
Fairview
Fallston
Fayette City
Finleyville
Ford City
Ford Cliff
Forest Hills
Fox Chapel
Frankfort Springs
Franklin Park
Freedom
Freeport
Georgetown
Glasgow
Glassport
Glenfield
Green Hills
Green Tree
Harmony
Harrisville
Haysville
Heidelberg
Homestead
Homewood
Hookstown
Houston
Hunker
Hyde Park
Industry
Ingram
Irwin
Jefferson Hills
Karns City
Kittanning
Koppel
Laurel Mountain
Leechburg
Leetsdale
Liberty
Ligonier
Lincoln
Long Branch
Madison
Manor
Manorville
Marianna
Markleysburg
Mars
Masontown
McDonald
McKees Rocks
Midland
Midway
Millvale
Monaca
Monroeville
Mt. Oliver
Mt. Pleasant
Munhall
Murrysville
New Alexandria
New Brighton
New Eagle
New Florence
New Galilee
New Stanton
Newell
North Apollo
North Belle Vernon
North Braddock
North Charleroi
North Irwin
Oakdale
Oakmont
Ohiopyle
Ohioville
Oklahoma
Osborne
Patterson Heights
Penn
Pennsbury Village
Perryopolis
Petrolia
Pitcairn
Pleasant Hills
Plum
Point Marion
Port Vue
Portersville
Prospect
Rankin
Rochester
Roscoe
Rosslyn Farms
Rural Valley
Saxonburg
Scottdale
Seven Fields
Seven Springs
Seward
Sewickley Heights
Sewickley Hills
Sewickley
Sharpsburg
Shippingport
Slippery Rock
Smithfield
Smithton
South Bethlehem
South Connellsville
South Greensburg
South Heights
Southwest Greensburg
Speers
Springdale
Stockdale
Sutersville
Swissvale
Tarentum
Thornburg
Trafford
Turtle Creek
Twilight
Valencia
Vanderbilt
Vandergrift
Verona
Versailles
Wall
West Brownsville
West Elizabeth
West Homestead
West Kittanning
West Leechburg
West Liberty
West Mayfield
West Middletown
West Mifflin
West Newton
West Sunbury
West View
Whitaker
White Oak
Whitehall
Wilkinsburg
Wilmerding
Worthington
Youngstown
Youngwood
Zelienople
Baidland
Calumet-Norvelt
Carnot-Moon
Cecil-Bishop
Crabtree
Curtisville
East Uniontown
Fernway
Fox Run
Fredericktown-Millsboro
Gastonville
Grapeville
Grindstone-Rowes Run
Harrison City
Herminie
Hiller
Homeacre-Lyndora
Hopwood
Imperial-Enlow
Lawson Heights
Leith-Hatfield
Lenape Heights
Lynnwood-Pricedale
McChesneytown-Loyalhanna
McGovern
McMurray
Meadowood
Meridian
New Salem-Buffington
Nixon
North Vandergrift-Pleasant View
Oak Hills
Oliver
Orchard Hills
Republic
Russellton
Shanor-Northvue
Slickville
Sturgeon-Noblestown
Thompsonville
West Hills
Wickerham Manor-Fisher
Wolfdale
Aleppo
Baldwin
Collier
Crescent
East Deer
Elizabeth
Fawn
Findlay
Forward
Frazer
Hampton
Harmar
Harrison
Indiana
Kennedy
Kilbuck
Leet
Marshall
McCandless
Moon
Mt. Lebanon
Neville
North Fayette
North Versailles
O'Hara
Ohio
Penn Hills
Pine
Reserve
Richland
Robinson
Ross
Scott
Shaler
South Fayette
South Park
South Versailles
Springdale
Stowe
Upper St. Clair
West Deer
Wilkins
Bethel
Boggs
Bradys Bend
Burrell
Cadogan
Cowanshannock
East Franklin
Gilpin
Hovey
Kiskiminetas
Kittanning
Madison
Mahoning
Manor
North Buffalo
Parks
Perry
Pine
Plumcreek
Rayburn
Redbank
South Bend
South Buffalo
Sugarcreek
Valley
Washington
Wayne
West Franklin
Brighton
Center
Chippewa
Darlington
Daugherty
Franklin
Greene
Hanover
Harmony
Hopewell
Independence
Marion
New Sewickley
North Sewickley
Patterson
Potter
Pulaski
Raccoon
Rochester
South Beaver
Vanport
White
Adams
Allegheny
Brady
Buffalo
Butler
Center
Cherry
Clay
Clearfield
Clinton
Concord
Connoquenessing
Cranberry
Donegal
Fairview
Forward
Franklin
Jackson
Jefferson
Lancaster
Marion
Mercer
Middlesex
Muddy Creek
Oakland
Parker
Penn
Slippery Rock
Summit
Venango
Washington
Winfield
Worth
Fayette County
Brownsville
Bullskin
Connellsville
Dunbar
Franklin
Georges
German
Henry Clay
Jefferson
Lower Tyrone
Luzerne
Menallen
Nicholson
North Union
Perry
Redstone
Saltlick
South Union
Springfield
Springhill
Stewart
Upper Tyrone
Washington
Wharton
Washington County
Amwell
Blaine
Buffalo
Canton
Carroll
Cecil
Chartiers
Cross Creek
Donegal
East Bethlehem
East Finley
Fallowfield
Hanover
Hopewell
Independence
Jefferson
Morris
Mount Pleasant
North Bethlehem
North Franklin
North Strabane
Nottingham
Peters
Robinson
Smith
Somerset
South Franklin
South Strabane
Union
West Bethlehem
West Finley
West Pike Run
Westmoreland County
Allegheny
Bell
Cook
Derry
Donegal
East Huntingdon
Fairfield
Hempfield
Irwin
Ligonier
Loyalhanna
Mount Pleasant
North Huntingdon
Penn
Rostraver
Salem
Sewickley
South Huntingdon
St. Clair
Unity
Upper Burrell
Washington
Belle Vernon
Brownsville
Dawson
Dunbar
Everson
Fairchance
Fayette City
Markleysburg
Masontown
Newell
Ohiopyle
Perryopolis
Point Marion
Seven Springs
Smithfield
South Connellsville
Vanderbilt
Monongahela
Washington
Allenport
Beallsville
Bentleyville
Burgettstown
California
Canonsburg
Centerville
Charleroi
Claysville
Coal Center
Cokeburg
Deemston
Donora
Dunlevy
East Washington
Elco
Ellsworth
Finleyville
Green Hills
Houston
Long Branch
Marianna
McDonald
Midway
New Eagle
North Charleroi
Roscoe
Speers
Stockdale
Twilight
West Brownsville
West Middletown
Amwell Township
Blaine Township
Buffalo Township
Canton Township
Carroll Township
Cecil Township
Chartiers Township
Cross Creek Township
Donegal Township
East Bethlehem Township
East Finley Township
Fallowfield Township
Hanover Township
Hopewell Township
Independence Township
Jefferson Township
Morris Township
Mount Pleasant Township
North Bethlehem Township
North Franklin Township
North Strabane Township
Nottingham Township
Peters Township
Robinson Township
Smith Township
Somerset Township
South Franklin Township
South Strabane Township
Union Township
West Bethlehem Township
West Finley Township
West Pike Run Township
Carmichaels
Clarksville
Greensboro
Jefferson
Rices Landing
Waynesburg
Aspinwall
Avalon
Baldwin
Bell Acres
Bellevue
Ben Avon
Ben Avon Heights
Blawnox
Brackenridge
Braddock
Braddock Hills
Bradford Woods
Brentwood
Bridgeville
Carnegie
Castle Shannon
Chalfant
Cheswick
Churchill
Coraopolis
Crafton
Dormont
Dravosburg
East McKeesport
East Pittsburgh
Edgewood
Edgeworth
Elizabeth
Emsworth
Etna
Forest Hills
Fox Chapel
Franklin Park
Glassport
Glenfield
Green Tree
Haysville
Heidelberg
Homestead
Ingram
Jefferson Hills
Leetsdale
Liberty
Lincoln
McDonald
McKees Rocks
Millvale
Mount Oliver
Munhall
North Braddock
Oakdale
Oakmont
Osborne
Pennsbury Village
Pitcairn
Pleasant Hills
Plum
Port Vue
Rankin
Rosslyn Farms
Sewickley
Sewickley Heights
Sewickley Hills
Sharpsburg
Springdale
Swissvale
Tarentum
Thornburg
Trafford
Turtle Creek
Verona
Versailles
Wall
West Elizabeth
West Homestead
West Mifflin
West View
Whitaker
White Oak
Whitehall
Wilkinsburg
Wilmerding
Aleppo Township
Baldwin Township
Collier Township
Crescent Township
East Deer Township
Elizabeth Township
Fawn Township
Findlay Township
Forward Township
Frazer Township
Hampton Township
Harmar Township
Harrison Township
Indiana Township
Kennedy Township
Kilbuck Township
Leet Township
Marshall Township
McCandless
Moon Township
Neville Township
North Fayette Township
North Versailles Township
O'Hara Township
Ohio Township
Pine Township
Reserve Township
Richland Township
Robinson Township
Ross Township
Scott Township
Shaler Township
South Fayette Township
South Park Township
South Versailles Township
Springdale Township
Stowe Township
Upper St. Clair
West Deer Township
Wilkins Township
Arnold
Greensburg
Jeannette
Latrobe
Lower Burrell
Monessen
New Kensington
Adamsburg
Arona
Avonmore
Bolivar
Delmont
Derry
Donegal
East Vandergrift
Export
Hunker
Hyde Park
Irwin
Laurel Mountain
Ligonier
Madison
Manor
Mount Pleasant
Murrysville
New Alexandria
New Florence
New Stanton
North Belle Vernon
North Irwin
Oklahoma
Penn
Scottdale
Seward
Smithton
South Greensburg
Southwest Greensburg
Sutersville
Trafford
Vandergrift
West Leechburg
West Newton
Youngstown
Youngwood
Allegheny Township
Bell Township
Cook Township
Derry Township
Donegal Township
East Huntingdon Township
Fairfield Township
Hempfield Township
Ligonier Township
Loyalhanna Township
Mount Pleasant Township
North Huntingdon Township
Penn Township
Rostraver Township
Salem Township
Sewickley Township
South Huntingdon Township
St. Clair Township
Unity Township
Upper Burrell Township
Washington Township