Wilmington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, two waterways near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area (synonymous with the Philadelphia metropolitan area). Wilmington was named by Proprietor Thomas Penn after his friend Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, who was prime minister during the reign of George II of Great Britain.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.0 square miles (44 km2), of which 10.9 square miles (28 km2) is land and 6.2 square miles (16 km2) is water. The total area is 36.25% water.
Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 70,898 people, 31,754 households, and 13,572 families residing in the city.