New York City (also known as 'The Big Smoke') comprises 5 boroughs, sitting where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean. At its core is Manhattan, a densely populated area that’s among the world’s major commercial, financial, technical and cultural centres.

Its iconic sites include skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and sprawling Central Park. Broadway theatre is staged in neon-lit Times Square.

Many TV programs and movies have been set here including Ghostbusters, Friends, Mad Men, Law and Order

It has a population of between 8~9 million people. It was named after York (England) over 400 years ago.

New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York, before this name was permanently adopted in 1674. Following independence from Great Britain, the city was the national capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790.

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