queens

Queens is one of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, located on western Long Island. It borders the East River to the west, Brooklyn to the south, Nassau County to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay to the south and southeast. It is the second-most populous borough of the city and is renowned for its cultural and linguistic diversity, with a resident population estimated around 2.3 million.

The name derives from Queens County, which was named for Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II. The county was established in 1683, and Queens became a borough of New York City in the 1898 consolidation of the city. The area has a long history of immigration and urban development, evolving from rural and agricultural land to a densely populated urban district with numerous neighborhoods and communities.

Queens includes a wide range of neighborhoods such as Flushing, Astoria, Long Island City, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, Forest Hills, Rego Park, and the Rockaway Peninsula. It is home to large Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, and other immigrant communities, contributing to a vibrant array of cuisines, shops, and cultural institutions. Notable cultural sites include the Queens Museum, the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which houses the Unisphere and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, venue for the U.S. Open.

Queens hosts two major airports, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia, making it a critical gateway for international and domestic travel. It is also a hub for higher education, with institutions such as Queens College and LaGuardia Community College, along with extensive public transit served by the subway, the Long Island Rail Road, and expressways that connect it to other parts of New York City and Long Island.