History: Life In The New York City, 19th Century, United States

New York is the most populous city in the United States. In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated New York's population on July 1, 2009, to be 8,391,881 (up from 8.0 million in 2000 and 7.3 million in 1990). This amounts to about 40% of the state of New York's population and a similar percentage of the metropolitan regional population. Over the last decade the city has been growing rapidly and demographers estimate New York's population will reach between 9.2 and 9.5 million by 2030.
New York's two key demographic features are its density and ethnic diversity. In 2000, the city had an extremely high population density of 26,403 people per square mile (10,194/km²), about 10,000 more people per square mile than the next densest American city, San Francisco. As synonymous with New York County, Manhattan's population density is 66,940 people per square mile (25,846/km²), highest of any county in the United States.
New York City is exceptionally diverse. Throughout its history the city has been a major point of entry for immigrants; more than 12 million European immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. By 1900, New York City had more Italians than any city in Italy except Rome, more Poles than any city in Poland except Warsaw, as many Irish as Dublin, and more Jews than any other city in the world. The term "melting pot" was first coined to describe densely populated immigrant neighborhoods on the Lower East Side.
Approximately 36% of the city's population is foreign-born. Among American cities, this proportion is higher only in Los Angeles and Miami. While the immigrant communities in those cities are dominated by a few nationalities, in New York no single country or region of origin dominates. The ten largest countries of origin for modern day immigration are the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Guyana, Mexico, Ecuador, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia and Russia. The largest ethnic groups in New York City are African American, Italian, Jewish, and Irish. The New York region continues to be the leading metropolitan gateway for legal immigrants admitted into the United States.