It's A Big, Beautiful World And We Are Here To Help You See More Of It. Book Online Now. Discover Our Special Offers And Greatest Deals To The Most Fantastic Destinations.
Find Cheap Flights to Your Favorite Destinations. Book With Confidence at OneTravel®. Compare 500+ Airlines and Book Confidently with Our Low Fares to New York City.
Craft Your New York Adventure Itinerary with Viator. Reserve Now & Pay Later. Book Unforgettable Tours on Viator. Skip the Line, Book Tickets, Experiences and More
New York Last-minute offers for flights - Book quickly or they will sell out. New York - Discover the best flight deals and save on your travels.
Search results
New York, often called New York City[b] or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county.
- Overview
- Character of the city
- The city site
New York City is located at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York state, which is in the northeastern section of the United States.
What are the five boroughs of New York City?
The five boroughs of New York City are Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island.
Why is New York City important in the United States?
New York City is the largest and most influential American metropolis and the most populous and the most international city in the country. Located where the Hudson and East rivers empty into one of the world’s premier harbors, New York is both the gateway to the North American continent and its preferred exit to the oceans of the globe.
What does the seal of New York City look like?
New York is the most ethnically diverse, religiously varied, commercially driven, famously congested, and, in the eyes of many, the most attractive urban centre in the country. No other city has contributed more images to the collective consciousness of Americans: Wall Street means finance, Broadway is synonymous with theatre, Fifth Avenue is automatically paired with shopping, Madison Avenue means the advertising industry, Greenwich Village connotes bohemian lifestyles, Seventh Avenue signifies fashion, Tammany Hall defines machine politics, and Harlem evokes images of the Jazz Age, African American aspirations, and slums. The word tenement brings to mind both the miseries of urban life and the upward mobility of striving immigrant masses. New York has more Jews than Tel Aviv, more Irish than Dublin, more Italians than Naples, and more Puerto Ricans than San Juan. Its symbol is the Statue of Liberty, but the metropolis is itself an icon, the arena in which Emma Lazarus’s “tempest-tost” people of every nation are transformed into Americans—and if they remain in the city, they become New Yorkers.
For the past two centuries, New York has been the largest and wealthiest American city. More than half the people and goods that ever entered the United States came through its port, and that stream of commerce has made change a constant presence in city life. New York always meant possibility, for it was an urban centre on its way to something better, a metropolis too busy to be solicitous of those who stood in the way of progress. New York—while the most American of all the country’s cities—thus also achieved a reputation as both foreign and fearsome, a place where turmoil, arrogance, incivility, and cruelty tested the stamina of everyone who entered it. The city was inhabited by strangers, but they were, as James Fenimore Cooper explained, “essentially national in interest, position, pursuits. No one thinks of the place as belonging to a particular state but to the United States.” Once the capital of both its state and the country, New York surpassed such status to become a world city in both commerce and outlook, with the most famous skyline on earth. It also became a target for international terrorism—most notably the destruction in 2001 of the World Trade Center, which for three decades had been the most prominent symbol of the city’s global prowess. However, New York remains for its residents a conglomeration of local neighbourhoods that provide them with familiar cuisines, languages, and experiences. A city of stark contrasts and deep contradictions, New York is perhaps the most fitting representative of a diverse and powerful nation.
Sections of the granite bedrock of New York date to about 100 million years ago, but the topography of the present city is largely the product of the glacial recession that marked the end of the Wisconsin Glacial Stage about 10,000 years ago. Great erratic boulders in Manhattan’s Central Park, deep kettle depressions in Brooklyn and Queens, and the glacial moraine that remains in parts of the metropolitan area provide silent testimony to the enormous power of the ice. Glacial retreat also carved out the waterways around the city. The Hudson and East rivers, Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and Arthur Kill are, in reality, estuaries of the Atlantic Ocean, and the Hudson is tidal as far north as Troy. The approximately 600 miles (1,000 km) of New York shoreline are locked in constant combat with the ocean, as it erodes the land and adds new sediments elsewhere. Although the harbour is constantly dredged, ship channels are continually filled with river silt and are too shallow for more modern deep-sea vessels.
Britannica Quiz
Anywhere USA
South of the rockbound terrain of Manhattan stretches a sheltered deepwater anchorage offering easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1524 the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to enter the harbour, which he named Santa Margarita, and he reported that the hills surrounding the vast expanse of New York Bay appeared to be rich in minerals; more than 90 species of precious stone and 170 of the world’s minerals have actually been found in New York. Verrazzano’s daring expedition was commemorated in 1964, when what was then the world’s longest suspension bridge was dedicated to span the Narrows at the entrance to Upper New York Bay.
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
- George Lankevich
Jun 7, 2022 · With one of the world’s most easily recognizable skylines and ranking as the most populous city in the United States, New York City is a hub of diversity, culture, and innovation. Nicknamed the Empire State , the city comprises five boroughs that each maintains its own distinctive style and flavor.
Oct 7, 2024 · Read our Telegraph Travel expert guide to a weekend in New York, including the best places to stay, eat, and drink as well as the top things to do on a city break.
- Destination Expert
Mar 13, 2023 · The bustling, cosmopolitan heart of the 4th largest metropolis in the world and by far the most populous city in the United States, New York has long been a key entry point and a defining city for the nation.
Apr 18, 2024 · From the highest viewpoints to quirkiest museums, attractions in the Big Apple never disappoint. Make a reservation to access the Statue of Liberty's crown, one of the best things to do in New ...
Mar 18, 2024 · Written by Lana Law. Updated Mar 18, 2024. One of the greatest cities in the world, New York is always a whirlwind of activity, with famous sights at every turn and never enough time to see them all. Brooklyn Bridge and the New York City skyline.
People also ask
Where is New York City located?
Why is New York a world city?
What is New York known for?
When did New York City become the capital of America?
What is the largest city in the United States?
How big is New York City?
Visit the American Museum of Natural History to Learn More About Our Exhibits. American Museum of Natural History Tickets & Exhibits. Special Exhibits.
Pay A £0 Deposit When You Spread Your Payments By Direct Debit. T&Cs Apply. Book Happy With TUI Flex, And Change Your Holiday Up Until 28 Days Before You Travel.
Luxurban New York - Compare Rates. The Best deals for 2023. Luxurban New York. Hotel Rates, Specials, Offers. Book suite rooms & more.
