Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encompassing the western half of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its other metropolitan centers. As of the 2020 census, Western Pennsylvania had a population of 3,753,944.
Although the Commonwealth does not designate Western Pennsylvania as an official region of the state, it has retained a distinct identity since the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania because of its geographical distance from Philadelphia, the state's first settlement, and because of its topographical separation from eastern Pennsylvania, including the Appalachian Mountains, which characterizes the region. The strong cultural identity of Western Pennsylvania is reinforced by the state supreme court, which convenes in Pittsburgh in addition to Harrisburg and Philadelphia.