New York City Guide

New York City is made up of five boroughs, each a separate county in New York State. Manhattan, the best- known borough, is in the centre on Manhattan Island. Brooklyn and Queens are across the East River on Long Island. Staten Island is to the south. The Bronx is to the north across the Harlem River.

Manhattan is a narrow island; twenty kilometres (thirteen miles) in length and just over three kilometres (two miles) at its widest point. To the west, the Hudson River separates New York from New Jersey; to the east, the East River separates Manhattan Island from Queens and Brooklyn. The upper New York Bay lies to the south of the island. The "City of New York" was once confined to the southern-most tip of the island, now known as the Financial District and Battery Park. This area has a distinctive medieval street design, contrasting with the grid pattern in the rest of Manhattan that consists of avenues running north to south and streets running east to west. Streets are labelled East or West in relation to their intersection with Fifth Avenue and Broadway. Broadway runs diagonally the length of the island from Harlem to the Financial district.

Manhattan can be divided into three broad areas. Downtown refers to the area south of 14th Street. Midtown refers to the area between 14th Street and the southern end of Central Park (59th Street). Uptown Manhattan refers to the city blocks west and east of Central Park up to around 100th Street. To the north of Central Park is Harlem.

New York is a melting pot of cultures. About 50% of the city's inhabitants were born overseas or born of foreign parents. The city underwent a striking period of population growth in the nineteenth century, underwritten by massive immigration. This influx continued until World War I and laid the basis for much of New York 's ethnic composition, not least its sizeable Jewish population. Much of New York 's African-American population derives from internal migration in the half-century after the Civil War (1865). More recent migrants, particular those from Latin America , continue to change the face of the city.

New York City has a population of over 8 million. Around 1.5 million of these live on Manhattan , where the population density reaches 70,000 per square mile. New York State , with a population of just over 19 million in 2003, is the second most populous state after California . In addition some 32 million people visit New York City each year.

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