NEW YORK
31.2000° N, 121.5000° E
New York is the most populous city in the United States
and the center of the New York metropolitan area, one of
the most populous urban agglomerations in the world.
The city is referred to as New York City or the City of
New York to distinguish it from the State of New York, of
which it is a part. A global power city, New York exerts a
significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art,
fashion, research, technology, education, and
entertainment. The home of the United Nations
Headquarters, New York is an important center for
international diplomacy and has been described as the
cultural capital of the world.
On one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York
City consists of five boroughs, each of which is a county
of New York State. The five boroughs—The Bronx,
Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—were
consolidated into a single city in 1898. With a censusestimated 2012 population of 8,336,697 distributed over
a land area of just 302.64 square miles (783.8 km2),
New York is the most densely populated major city in the
United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in
New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in
the world. By 2012 census estimates, the New York
Metropolitan Area's population remains by a significant
margin the United States' largest Metropolitan Statistical
Area, with approximately 19.8 million people, and is also
part of the most populous Combined Statistical Area in
the United States, containing an estimated 23.4 million
people.
New York traces its roots to its 1624 founding as a
trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was
named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its
surroundings came under English control in 1664 New
York served as the capital of the United States from 1785
until 1790. It has been the country's largest city since
1790. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of
immigrants as they came to America by ship in the late
19th and early 20th centuries and is a globally
recognized symbol of the United States and its
democracy.