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New York

City in New York, United StatesAt the southern tip of New York State, New York City spreads around New York Harbor, at the mouth of the Hudson River on the Atlantic coast. Two of its boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens, cover the western end of Long Island.

What it's known for

New York is a world centre of finance, with Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District, and the United Nations has its headquarters in the city. It is made up of five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.

Fun facts

  1. The Dutch named the settlement New Amsterdam in 1626; it was renamed New York after the English king Charles II gave the land to his brother, the Duke of York.
  2. New York was the first capital of the United States under the Constitution, and George Washington was sworn in as the first president at Federal Hall on Wall Street in 1789.
  3. The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in 1886 on Liberty Island; its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel.

Finding it on the globe

Find Long Island, the long, thin island that stretches east into the Atlantic, and go to its western end: New York is there, at the mouth of the Hudson River.

Easy to mix up

New York is not the capital of the United States, which is Washington, D.C., or even of New York State, whose capital is Albany, about 220 km up the Hudson River.

Sources: Wikipedia: New York City, Wikipedia: Long Island, Wikipedia: Hudson River, Wikipedia: Statue of Liberty, Wikipedia: Federal Hall, Wikipedia: Albany, New York