New York City (officially the City of New York) is the largest city in the United States and one of the world's major global cities.Located in the state of New York,the city has a population of over 8.2 million within an area of 321 square miles (approximately 830 km²),making it the most densely populated major city in North America.With a population of 18.7 million,the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the largest urban areas in the world,
New York City is an international center for business,finance,fashion,medicine,entertainment,media,and culture,with an extraordinary collection of museums,galleries,performance venues,media outlets,international corporations,and financial markets.The city is also home to the headquarters of the United Nations,and to many of the world's most famous skyscrapers.
Popularly known as the "Big Apple" and the "City That Never Sleeps",the city attracts people from all over the globe who come for New York City's economic opportunity,culture,and fast-paced cosmopolitan lifestyle.The city is also currently distinguished for having the lowest crime rate among major American cities.
Prehistory in the area began with the geological formation of the peculiar territory of what is today New York City.The area was long inhabited by the Lenape; Lenape in canoes met Giovanni da Verrazzano,the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor,in 1524.Giovanni da Verrazzano named this place New Angoulême in the honor of the French king Francis I.European settlement began with the founding of the Dutch fur trading settlement in Lower Manhattan in 1613 later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam) in the southern tip of Manhattan in 1624.Later in 1626,Peter Minuit established a long tradition of shrewd real estate investing when he purchased Manhattan Island and Staten Island from native people in exchange for trade goods.(Legend,now long disproved,has it that the island was purchased for $24 worth of glass beads.) Minuit's settlement was also a haven for Huguenots seeking religious liberty.
In 1640,Peter Stuyvesant was appointed governor,and ruled as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.He curtailed the city's religious freedoms and closed all of the city's taverns.The colony was granted self-government in 1652.In 1664,the British conquered the area and renamed it New York.The Dutch regained it in August 1673,renaming the city "New Orange",before ceding New Netherland permanently to the English for what is now Surinam in November 1674.