Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania  Philadelphia County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2019, Philadelphia County was home to an estimated population of 1,584,064 residents. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsylvania by land area. Philadelphia County is one of the three original counties, along with Chester and Bucks counties, created by William Penn during November 1682. Since 1854, the county has been coextensive with the City of Philadelphia. Philadelphia County is part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (Combined Statistical Area, known as the Delaware Valley), located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, within the Northeast megalopolis. Philadelphia County is the economic and cultural anchor of the Delaware Valley, the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States, with a population of 7.2 million. Native American tribes of Lenape were the first known occupants in the area that became Philadelphia County. The first European settlers were Swedes and Finns who arrived during 1638. The Netherlands seized the area during 1655, but lost control to England during 1674. William Penn received his charter for Pennsylvania from Charles II of England during 1681, and November 1682 he divided Pennsylvania into three counties. During the same year, Philadelphia was planned and was made the county seat and the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania. Penn wanted Philadelphia, meaning "love brotherly", to be a place where religious tolerance and the freedom to worship were ensured. Philadelphia's name is shared with an ancient city in Asia Minor mentioned by the Bible's Book of Revelation. It was William Penn's desire, as a Quaker, that his "Holy Experiment" would be found blameless at the Last Judgment. When established, Philadelphia County consisted mainly of the area from the Delaware River west between the Schuylkill River to the south and the border with Bucks County to the north; the western boundary was undefined. Two counties would be formed out of Philadelphia County, Berks County which was formed during 1752 (from parts of Chester, Lancaster, and Philadelphia counties), and Montgomery County established during 1784. From these separations, as well as other border changes, was created the present-day boundaries of the county. The City of Philadelphia, as planned by Penn, comprised only that portion of the present day city situated between South and Vine Streets and the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Other settlements were made beyond the boundaries of the city, and in the course of time they became incorporated separately and had separate governments.