Manhattan
 Manhattan is an island bordering the lower Hudson River. It is one of the five boroughs that comprise the City of New York. The borough is coterminous with New York County and includes the Island of Manhattan, as well as several other smaller islands and a small portion of the mainland (see geography). As of 2000, the population comprised 1,537,195 people, but the county is the smallest county in the state of New York based on area.
New York County and the Borough of Manhattan are coextensive. As a part of New York City, New York County contains no other political subdivisions. It occupies the whole of Manhattan Island, surrounded by the East River, the Harlem River, and the Hudson River. It also includes some smaller islands, including Roosevelt Island (formerly Welfare Island, and even earlier Blackwell's Island), U Thant Island (officially known as Belmont Island), and a small portion of the North American mainland (Marble Hill) contiguous with The Bronx. Marble Hill was originally part of Manhattan Island; but the Harlem River Ship Canal, dug in the late 19th century to improve navigation on the Harlem River, separated it from the remainder of Manhattan, and eventually the part of the original Harlem River channel separating Marble Hill from the Bronx was filled in.
Manhattan Island is 21.5 km (13 miles) long and 3.7 km (2.3 miles) wide (at its widest point).
According to the United States Census Bureau, New York County (the Borough of Manhattan) has a total area of 87.5 km˛ (33.8 mi˛). 59.5 km˛ (23.0 mi˛) of it is land and 28.0 km˛ (10.8 mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 32.01% water.
Manhattan is connected by bridges and tunnels to New Jersey to the west, and three New York City boroughs: the Bronx to the northeast and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island to the east and south. Its only direct connection with the fifth New York City borough is the Staten Island Ferry, whose terminal is at Battery Park at its southern tip.
On May 28 and July 12 the sunrise and sunset are aligned with the street gridlines, so that the Sun is visible at the horizon from street level.
The Empire State Building, the theater district around Broadway, New York University, Columbia University, the financial center around Wall Street, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Harlem, the American Museum of Natural History, Chinatown, and Central Park are all located on this densely populated island. (See also New York City.) The phrase "a New York minute" refers to the extremely rapid pace of living in Manhattan.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Manhattan".
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