The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation as of 2020 and 68th largest city in the world. The toponym Delaware Valley is therefore commonly used to refer to Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia metropolitan area, or the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. The Delaware Valley region includes portions of four U.S. states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) and four regions in the area (Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland) along the central and lower Delaware River. The Delaware Valley has a total 2020 population of 6.245 million, making it the seventh largest metropolitan region i