Wyoming Valley

Wyoming Valley
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA
Clockwise from top left: Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Hazleton
Map of Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA Area MSA   Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA   City of Scranton   City of Wilkes-Barre
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Largest city	Scranton
Other cities	- Wilkes-Barre  - Hazleton  - Carbondale  - Pittston City (Greater Pittston)  - Nanticoke
Area
• Total	1,776 sq mi (4,600 km2)
Highest elevation	2,460[1] ft (750 m)
Lowest elevation	400 ft (100 m)
Population [2]
• Total	567,559
• Rank	100th in the U.S.
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)

The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan area, it is known as the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, after its principal cities, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. With a population of 567,559 as of the 2020 United States census, it is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania, after the Delaware Valley, Greater Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley, and the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical areas.

Within the geology of Pennsylvania the Wyoming Valley makes up its own unique physiographic province,^{[citation needed]} the Anthracite Valley. Greater Pittston occupies the center of the valley. Scranton is the most populated city in the metropolitan area with a population of 77,114. The city of Scranton grew in population after the 2015 mid-term census while Wilkes-Barre declined in population. Wilkes-Barre remains the second most-populated city in the metropolitan area, while Hazleton is the third most-populated city in the metropolitan area.

The valley is a crescent-shaped depression, a part of the ridge-and-valley or folded Appalachians. The Susquehanna River occupies the southern part of the valley, which is notable for its deposits of anthracite. These have been extensively mined. Deep mining of anthracite has declined throughout the greater Coal Region, however, due to the greater economics of strip mining. Parts of the local mines had already shut down because some coal beds were on fire and had to be sealed, but the exodus of mining companies came quickly following the legal and political repercussions of the 1959 Knox Mine disaster when the roof of the Knox Coal Company's mine under the Susquehanna River collapsed.

The Pocono Mountains, a ridgeline away, are often visible from higher elevations to the east and to the southeast of the Wyoming Valley.^{[notes 1]}

Cite error: There are <ref group=notes> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=notes}} template (see the help page).