Queens is the largest in area and the second most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, New York, USA. The borough's boundaries are identical to those of Queens County, a county of New York State.
Located on the western portion of Long Island, Queens is home to two of the three major New York City area airports, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia; it is also the location of the New York Mets baseball team; the US Open tennis tournament; Flushing Meadows Park and Silvercup Studios.
As of the 2005 American Community Survey, immigrants comprise 47.6% of Queens residents making Queens the city's most diverse borough. With a population of 2.2 million it is the second most populous borough in New York City (behind Brooklyn) and the tenth most populous county in the United States. The 2.2 million figure is the highest historical population for the borough. Were each borough an independent city, Queens would be the fifth largest city in the United States.
Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of New York and was supposedly named for the then-queen consort, Catherine of Braganza, the Catholic wife of Charles II (this is not supported by contemporary documents). The borough is often considered one of the more suburban boroughs of New York City. Neighborhoods in central (except those situated along Queens Boulevard and the neighborhoods of Flushing and Jamaica), southern, and eastern Queens have a look and feel similar to the bordering suburbs of western Nassau County. In its northwestern section, however, Queens is home to many urban neighborhoods and several central business districts. Long Island City, on the Queens' waterfront across from Manhattan, is the site of the Citicorp Building, the tallest skyscraper in New York City outside of Manhattan.
Queens is divided up into neighborhoods that are each distinctly different due to the ethnicities and groups that live in each. Most residents of Queens more identify with the neighborhood they live in versus the actual borough.
Howard Beach, Ozone Park, and Middle Village, are home to large Italian American populations.
Rockaway Beach and Woodside have large Irish American populations. Woodside also has a large Hispanic and Asian American population.
Astoria, in the northwest, is traditionally home to one of the largest Greek populations outside of Greece, and is also home to a growing population of Arabs as well as young professionals from Manhattan. Nearby Long Island City is a major commercial center and the home of the Queensbridge housing project.
Maspeth and Ridgewood are home to many European immigrants, including large Romanian, Polish, and other Slavic populations. Ridgewood also has a large Hispanic population.
Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, and Corona make up an enormous conglomeration of Hispanic, Asian American and South Asian communities.
Flushing, one of the largest neighborhoods in Queens has a large Asian community. The community consists of Koreans, Chinese as well as Hispanics, Italians and Greeks.
Richmond Hill, in the south, is often thought of as "Little Guyana" for its large Indo-Caribbean community.It also has the largest population of Sikhs from the Indian state of Punjab.
Rego Park, Forest Hills, and Kew Gardens have traditionally large Jewish populations (many of these communities are Jewish immigrants from Israel, Iran and the former Soviet Union). Also known for large and growing Indian and Hispanic/Latino communities, mainly immigrants from India and South America.
Jamaica Estates, Fresh Meadows, and Hollis Hills are also populated with many people of Jewish background. Many Asian families reside in parts of Fresh Meadows as well.
Jamaica is home to large African American and Caribbean populations. There are also middle-class African American and Caribbean neighborhoods such as Hollis, Saint Albans, Cambria Heights, Springfield Gardens, Rosedale, Laurelton and Briarwood along east and southeast Queens.
Bellerose and Floral Park are home to a large South-Asian population, predominantly Indian-Americans from the north-Indian state of Punjab and the south-Indian state of Kerala. There are some less diverse, but still prosperous part of Queens, such as South Jamaica.
Together, these neighborhoods comprise the most diverse county in the United States. Several of these neighborhoods are home to a diverse mix of many different ethnicities.