What Are Pennsylvania’s Natural Resources?
Pennsylvania’s natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, coal, fertile soils, abundant minerals, ample water supplies and copious forests. Pennsylvania also offers an array of state and local parks, greenways and trails and state forests that promote tourism.
Pennsylvania, popularly called the Keystone State, encompasses a land area of around 44,817 square miles. More than two million acres of land are designated as state forests, and over eight million acres are used for agricultural purposes. Pennsylvania’s lush soils produce a wide variety of crops, such as corn, mushrooms, potatoes, and fruits. Livestock is also raised in farming areas. The state is also rich in mineral deposits, such as anthracite and bituminous coal, limestone, shale and dolomite. The Marcellus Shale play contributes to the state’s oil and gas industry.
