Manhattan (/mænˈhætən, mən-/ ⓘ man-HAT-ən, mən-) is the most densely populated
and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive
with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S.
state of New York. Located almost entirely on Manhattan Island near the southern tip
of the state, Manhattan constitutes the center of the Northeast megalopolis and the
urban core of the New York metropolitan area.[7] Manhattan serves as New York
City's economic and administrative center and has been described as the cultural,
financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world.[8][9][10][11]
Present-day Manhattan was originally part of Lenape territory.[12] European
settlement began with the establishment of a trading post by Dutch colonists in 1624
on Manhattan Island; the post was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The territory
came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles
II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York.[13] New York, based
in present-day Lower Manhattan, served as the capital of the United States from
1785 until 1790.[14] The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor greeted millions of
arriving immigrants in the late 19th century and is a world symbol of the United
States and its ideals.[15] Manhattan became a borough during the consolidation of
New York City in 1898, and houses New York City Hall, the seat of the city's
government.[16] Harlem in Upper Manhattan became the center of what is now known
as the cultural Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich
Village, part of the Stonewall National Monument, is considered the birthplace in
1969 of the modern gay-rights movement, cementing Manhattan's central role
in LGBTQ culture.[17][18] Manhattan was the site of the original World Trade Center,
which was destroyed during the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Situated on one of the world's largest natural harbors, the borough is bounded by
the Hudson, East, and Harlem rivers and includes several small adjacent islands,
including Roosevelt, U Thant, and Randalls and Wards Islands. It also includes the
small neighborhood of Marble Hill now on the U.S. mainland. Manhattan Island is
divided into three informally bounded components, each cutting across the borough's
long axis: Lower Manhattan, Midtown, and Upper Manhattan. Manhattan is one of
the most densely populated locations in the world, with a 2020 census population of
1,694,250 living in a land area of 22.66 square miles (58.69 km2),[4][19] or 72,918
residents per square mile (28,154 residents/km2), and its residential property has the
highest sale price per square foot in the United States.[20]
Manhattan is home to Wall Street as well as the world's two largest stock
exchanges by total market capitalization, the New York Stock
Exchange and Nasdaq.[21] Many multinational media conglomerates are
based in Manhattan, as are numerous colleges and universities, such
as Columbia University, New York University, Rockefeller University, and
the City University of New York. The headquarters of the United Nations is
located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan. Manhattan
hosts three of the world's top 10 most-visited tourist attractions: Times
Square, Central Park, and Grand Central Terminal.[22] New York Penn
Station is the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere.
[23]
Chinatown has the highest concentration of Chinese people in the
Western Hemisphere.[24] Fifth Avenue has been ranked as the most
expensive shopping street in the world, before falling to second in 2024. [25]
[26]
The borough hosts many prominent bridges, tunnels,
and skyscrapers including the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building,
and One World Trade Center.[27] It is also home to the National Basketball
Association's New York Knicks and the National Hockey League's New York
Rangers.
