New York City

Lore & Background

Manhattan Island was inhabited by Munsee-speaking Lenape around 1624. By then, Dutch colonists had established Fort Amsterdam as a center of trade on the island. This was the first European settlement in what would become New York City. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York, before this name was permanently adopted in 1674. Following independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, the city was the national capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs.

In Their Own Story

Rain slicks the streets as the city pulses with continuous urban energy. From an open basement window, a saxophone cries out, wrestling with the rhythmic thrum of the subway deep beneath the street. Here, shadows hold stories waiting to be told in a place where chaos and beauty collide. The skyline stands as a testament to ambition, anchored by Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District. Fifth Avenue serves as an ultra-luxury international shopping corridor undergoing additional infrastructure investment. Despite leading the world in urban automobile traffic congestion, the city maintains a 24/7 rapid transit system that keeps its residents moving.

Reader's Guide

Anchored by Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District, New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. The New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a gross metropolitan product of over US$2.44 trillion. The New York metropolitan area's economy is larger than all but nine countries. Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system, New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion. The city is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. New York City is an established haven for global investors. New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has the highest residential rent costs of any American city; New York County (Manhattan) is by a significant margin the most expensive U.S. county in terms of average home price per square foot and produces the highest U.S. county GDP by both absolute and per capita measures. Fifth Avenue is an ultra-luxury international shopping corridor that is undergoing additional infrastructure investment. Amidst escalating affordability concerns, New York City is home to the highest number of billionaires, individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world by a significant margin.

Did You Know?

• With an estimated population of 8,584,629 in July 2025, New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States.
• More than 20.1 million people live in New York City's metropolitan statistical area, and over 23.5 million people live in its combined statistical area as of 2020.
• An estimated 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.
• The New York City metropolitan region is home to the largest foreign-born population of any metropolitan region in the world, numbering approximately 5.9 million people as of 2023.