Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Island,[5] with Nassau County to its east. Queens shares water borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
With a population of 2,405,464 as of the 2020 census,[2] Queens is the second-most populous county in New York state, behind Kings County (Brooklyn), and is therefore also the second-most populous of the five New York City boroughs. If Queens were a city, it would be the fourth most-populous in the U.S. after New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Queens is the fourth-most densely populated borough in New York City and the fourth-most densely populated U.S. county. About 47% of its residents are foreign-born.[6] Queens is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth and is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States.[7][8][9]
Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of the Province of New York. The settlement was named after the English Queen and Portuguese royal princess Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705).[10] From 1683 to 1899, the County of Queens included what is now Nassau County. Queens became a borough during the consolidation of New York City in 1898, combining the towns of Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and western Hempstead.[11] All except Hempstead are today considered neighborhoods of Queens.
Queens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City.[12] It is home to both of New York City's airports: John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia. Among its landmarks are Flushing Meadows–Corona Park; Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team; the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament; Kaufman Astoria Studios; Silvercup Studios; and the Aqueduct Racetrack. Flushing is undergoing rapid gentrification with investment by Chinese transnational entities,[13] while Long Island City is undergoing gentrification secondary to its proximity across the East River from Manhattan.
The borough's diverse housing ranges from high-rise apartment buildings in some areas of western and central Queens, such as Ozone Park, Jackson Heights, Flushing, Astoria, and Long Island City; to lower-rise neighborhoods in the eastern part of the borough.[14][15]
The first European settlement in the region were the Dutch, who established the colony of New Netherland. The first settlements were established in 1635 followed by further settlement at Maspeth in 1642 (ultimately unsuccessful),[16] and Vlissingen (now Flushing) in 1645.[17] Other early settlements included Newtown (now Elmhurst) in 1652 and Jamaica in 1655. However, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from New England via eastern Long Island (Suffolk County) who were subject to Dutch law.[18] After the capture of the colony by the English and its subsequent renaming as New York in 1664, the area (and all of Long Island) became known as Yorkshire.[19]: xi–xii