New York, USA

New York, or to be precise the City of New York, since it is also the name of the state, is the largest city in the United States, with 8.6 million inhabitants. Most people imagine the skyscrapers of Manhattan when they think of New York, but the city has four more districts, called boroughs, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

The Europeans came to the area in 1524, but it took almost a hundred years before they settled. In 1614, the Dutch built a trading post in southern Manhattan to trade furs. Ten years later, the Dutch bought the area from the Indians, and named it Nieuw Amsterdam.

The population increased, and the city expanded into todays Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

English soldiers took Nieuw Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664, without a fight. In the negotiations that followed, England retained the city. In exchange they gave the Netherlands the colony of Suriname on the northeast coast of South America.

The Netherlands was probably well pleased with the barter at the time. But from the early 1800s, New York has grown into one of the world's most important cities, surpassing London in population as early as 1920. Growth increased rapidly when the Erie Canal opened. It connects Lake Erie with the Hudson River. Goods are transported here between the coast and inland, and New York is centrally located where the river flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

New York is still the United States' most important center for trade and shipping, and also for banking and finance, media, art and culture.

Normal maximum temperature in December: 6,8 ℃
Normal precipitation in December: 111 mm

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