The first European to enter New York Bay was probably the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (1524), for whom the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge spanning the harbor entrance is named. Later came Henry Hudson, and then in 1613 the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was established on Manhattan Island, bought from the Indians by Peter Minuit, the Dutch governor, in 1626 for $24 worth of trinkets.

The capital of the colony of New Netherland, New Amsterdam was renamed New York after its capture by the English in 1664.

The town figured prominently in the American Revolution as the seat of the National Congress (1789-90) and the scene of Washington's inauguration as first President in 1789. It was the capital of New York State until 1797. During the 19th century the city's growth was accelerated by the construction of the Erie Canal (1825), by railroad development, and by a flood of immigration in the later years of the century which continued into the early 1900's. By 1898 the city had expanded to is present boundaries.

The earliest people known to have lived in the New York City area were tribes of the Algonquian family. These native Americans lived peacefully on the shores of New York Harbor and along the banks of the Hudson and East Rivers. They lived in small villages of bark huts and fished, hunted, raised crops and trapped animals. They traveled the area's waterways in study canoes.

The first European to enter New York Harbor was probably the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (for whom the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge spanning the harbor entrance is named), an Italian explorer employed by the king of France, Verrazano and his crew landed on Staten Island in 1524, while exploring the North American coast.

Other explorers visited the New York City region after Verranzano. But none of them reported seeing the island the Indians called Man-a-hat-ta (Island of the Hills). Finally, in 1609, Henry Hudson reached Manhattan and then sailed up the river that now bears his name. Hudson was an Englishman exploring for the Dutch, and so The Netherlands claimed the territory he had found.

In 1613, the Dutch trader and explorer Adriaen Block and his crew became the first Europeans to live on Manhattan Island. They built several huts and spent the winter near the southern tip of the island after their ship was destroyed by fire. They built a new ship and left the island in the spring of 1614.

In 1624, the Dutch West India Company, a trading and colonizing firm, sent the first settlers to Manhattan and established the first European settlement on the island.

In 1625, the settlers laid out a town and built a fort called Fort Amsterdam at the island's southern tip. The next year, the governor of the Dutch settlement, Peter Minuit, bought the island from the Indians for $24 worth of trinkets.

Soon after Fort Amsterdam was built, the entire settlement was named New Amsterdam. The colony prospered slowly at first because the governors sent by the Dutch were poor administrators. But in 1647, Peter Stuyvesant became governor, and under his administration the town began to prosper rapidly.

About 1,000 persons lived in New Amsterdam during the 1650's. Their houses stood along narrow dirt lanes. In 1653, they built a wall along the northern edge of town because they feared attacks by Indians or by white enemies. But the wall fell down within a few years. Later, the colonists laid out a road in its place. The road became known as Wall Street.

While New Amsterdam was being established on Manhattan, colonists were also arriving in what is now the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. Jonas Bronck of Denmark, after whom the Bronx was named, became the first settler in that area.

He set up a 500-acre (200 hectare) farm in 1641 and was soon followed by other settlers. Dutch and English colonists established several small villages in Brooklyn and Queens. Staten Island developed more slowly than the other areas because settlers there often had trouble with Indians.

The Netherlands and England fought three naval wars between 1652 and 1674. In 1664, English warships sailed into New York Harbor and forced Peter Stuyvesant to surrender New Amsterdam. The Dutch regained the colony and few years later but then gave it to England under the terms of a peace treaty. The English renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York to whom the land had been granted by King Charles II.

New York grew quickly under English rule. By 1700 its population reached about 7,000 and buildings filled lower Manhattan. The town's first newspaper, the New-York Gazette appeared in 1725. King's College, now Columbia University, was founded in 1754.

New York played an important role in the American Colonies' fight for freedom from Great Britain. In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met in New York to protest unfair taxes. In 1770, New Yorkers clashed with British soldiers, and one man was killed in the fighting. Soon after the Revolutionary War began in 1775, American forces took possession of the city. But the British regained New York after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and held it until the war ended in 1783. In January 1785, New York became the temporary capital of the United States, and Congress met there until August 1790. George Washington was inaugurated in New York as the nation's first President in April 1789.

The town figured prominently in the American Revolution as the seat of the National Congress (1789-90) and the scene of Washington's inauguration as first President in 1789. It was the capital of New York State until 1797. During the 19th century the city's growth was accelerated by the construction of the Erie Canal (1825), by railroad development, and by a flood of immigration in the later years of the century which continued into the early 1900's. By 1898 the city had expanded to is present boundaries.

Manhattan, the smallest borough in area, covers 34 square miles (88 square kilometers). It occupies a long, narrow island bordered by the Hudson River on the west, the East River on the east, the Harlem River on the north and northeast, and Upper New York Bay (the mouth of the Hudson) on the south.

The Bronx lies across the Harlem River from Manhattan and covers 55 square miles (143 square kilometers). It extends north along the Hudson River and east along hte East River. It is the only borough not separated from upstate New York by water.

Queens, the largest borough in area, occupies 126 square miles (326 square kilometers) on the northwest corner of Long Island. The East River separates Queens from the Bronx to the north and from Manhattan to the west.

Brooklyn covers 89 square miles(231 square kilometers) on the southwest tip of Long Island. It lies south and southwest of Queens and southeast of Manhattan across the East River.

Staten Island occupies a 65-square mile (168 square kilometer) island in Upper and Lower New York bays. It lies west of Brooklyn and southwest of Manhattan.

The state of New Jersey is directly west of New York City. It lies across two waterways, Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull, form Staten Island; across Upper New York Bay from Brooklyn; and across the Hudson River from Manhattan and the Bronx.

Each of New York City's boroughs has a large population, important businesses and industries, and many fine educational and cultural institutions. Within the five boroughs are more than 100 neighborhoods, such as Manhattan's Chinatown, Greenwich Village, and Harlem