Manhattan, or New York County, is the smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough consists principally of the island of Manhattan, but also includes Governors Island, Randalls Island, Wards Island, Roosevelt Island, U Thant Island, and Marble Hill, a small enclave on the edge of the Bronx mainland. Its land area is 73.6 sq km (28.4 sq mi). Manhattan's population peaked in 1910 with 2.3 million people, after which it began a slow decline to 1.4 million in 1980. Since then, the population has again begun to increase, reaching 1,487,536 in 1990.
Manhattan is the glittering heart of the metropolis. It is the site of virtually all of the hundreds of skyscrapers that are the symbol of the city. Among the more famous of these are the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center (first occupied in 1970), the Empire State Building (1931), the Chrysler Building (1930), and Citicorp Center (1977). Manhattan is also the oldest, densest, and most built-up part of the entire urbanized region.
