New York City

New York City, commonly shortened to NYC, is the United States' most populous city. It sits at the southern end of New York State, on New York Harbor—one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city is divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, each of which is also a county. It forms the core of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, which is the largest metro area in the U.S. by both population and urban land. The city is a major global hub for technology, finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, media, academia, science, the arts, fashion, and international diplomacy (hosting the United Nations headquarters). It is famous for its relentless pace and constant urban energy.

As of July 2025, its estimated population was 8,584,629, spread across 300.46 square miles, making it the most densely populated major city in the country. Its population is more than double that of Los Angeles, the second-most populous U.S. city. The broader metropolitan statistical area holds over 20.1 million people, and the combined statistical area exceeds 23.5 million (as of 2020)—both the largest in the U.S. NYC is one of the world's most populous megacities. It and its metro area serve as the primary entry point for legal immigration to the United States. Roughly 800 languages are spoken in the city, more than anywhere else on Earth. The New York metropolitan region also has the largest foreign-born population of any metro region globally, numbering about 5.9 million in 2023.

Before European contact, Manhattan Island was home to Munsee-speaking Lenape people. In 1624, Dutch colonists built Fort Amsterdam there as a trading post, the first European settlement in what would become NYC. The settlement was called New Amsterdam from 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The English took control in 1664, temporarily renaming it New York after the Duke of York (to whom King Charles II had granted the land), and the name became permanent in 1674. After the United States gained independence from Great Britain, the city served as the national capital from 1785 to 1790. The modern five-borough city was created by consolidation in 1898.

Wall Street, in Manhattan's Financial District, anchors an economy that has earned NYC the titles of the world's leading financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city globally. The New York metropolitan area has the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a gross metropolitan product exceeding $2.44 trillion—larger than the economies of all but nine countries. Despite operating a 24/7 rapid transit system, NYC also has the worst urban automobile traffic congestion in the world. It hosts the two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The city is a well-established haven for global investors.

NYC is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has the highest residential rents of any U.S. city. Manhattan (New York County) is by far the most expensive U.S. county in average home price per square foot and leads all U.S. counties in both absolute and per capita GDP. Fifth Avenue is an ultra-luxury shopping corridor undergoing further investment. Amid growing affordability concerns, NYC has the highest number of billionaires, ultra-high-net-worth individuals (over $30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world, by a wide margin.

Etymology The city was named in 1664 after the Duke of York (later King James II of England). His brother, King Charles II, had appointed him proprietor of the former Dutch territory of New Netherland—including New Amsterdam—after England seized it. The colony was renamed the Province of New York (now New York State).

History Early history Before Columbus, the area was inhabited by Algonquian peoples, including Munsee-speaking Lenape. Their homeland, Lenapehoking, covered present-day Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, western Long Island (Brooklyn and Queens), and the lower Hudson Valley. The first European documented to have visited New York Harbor was Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524, who claimed it for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême.

A Spanish expedition led by Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes arrived in January 1525, charting the mouth of the Hudson River and calling it the River of Saint Anthony. In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch East India Company, rediscovered the harbor while seeking a Northwest Passage to Asia. He sailed up what the Dutch called the North River (now the Hudson), naming it the Mauritius after Prince Maurice of Orange. Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company.

In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and named New Netherland. The first non-Native American inhabitant of what became NYC was Juan Rodriguez, a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan in the winter of 1613–14, trapping and trading with the local people as a Dutch representative.

Dutch rule A permanent European settlement near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making NYC the 12th-oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city in the present-day United States.