Category: North America

New York population density
With 8.3 million residents, the city of New York has a larger population than Switzerland and almost twice as many residents as the Republic of Ireland. The urban area with 1214 square kilometers is only slightly larger than Hamburg and Cologne combined (755 and 405 km²). Since only about two thirds of this area is land (786 km²) and the remainder is water (429 km²), the average population density is about 10,500 residents per square kilometer. The city and district boundaries have hardly changed since 1898.

FACTS AND FIGURES
New York is divided into five boroughs. The largest in terms of population is Brooklyn with 2.6 million residents on 251 square kilometers (including 68 km² water), followed by Queens with 2.3 million residents on 462 square kilometers (including 179 km² water), Manhattan with 1.6 million residents on 87 square kilometers (of which 28 km² water), the Bronx with 1.4 million residents on 149 square kilometers (of which 40 km² water) and finally Staten Island with 500,000 residents on 265 square kilometers (of which 114 km² water). Bronx is on the mainland, all other districts are either independent islands like Manhattan and Staten Island or are on Long Island like Brooklyn and Queens; they are connected by a multitude of bridges, tunnels and ferries.

Like no other city, New York has been shaped by its immigrants and their diversity. In the process, spatially separate agglomerations of the various ethnic groups and immigrant groups have formed within the urban area. The Afro-American population lives mainly in the Bronx, Harlem and Brooklyn, the Hispanics are mainly in the Bronx, Queens and the suburbs west of the Hudson. The Asian population is concentrated in Chinatown, Queens, and the northern suburbs.

However, due to changes in the number and origin of immigrants, this spatial structure is subject to constant changes. For example, Chinatown expanded beyond Canal Street into neighboring Little Italy in the 1980s; today it has about 95,000 Chinese residents. In recent years the number of immigrants from Asia and Eastern Europe (Poland, CIS) has increased in particular. For more information about the continent of North America, please check politicsezine.com.