Manhattan is a borough of New York City that includes Manhattan Island as well as several smaller islands and the neighborhood of Marble Hill which is actually located adjacent to the Bronx. Although it comprises only seven percent of the city by area making it the smallest of the five boroughs, Manhattan contains nearly 20 percent of its population and is the oldest of the urbanized areas. The United Nations, New York Stock Exchange, Central Park, and Bryant Park are all located in Manhattan. The island also contains almost all of the skyscrapers that are the symbol of the New York City Skyline. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nymanhat/history.htm

The first encounter Europeans had with the island of Manhattan occurred in 1524 when the French explorer Verrazano entered into what was to become New York harbor in search of a western route to China and also to find land to claim for the King of France. Next to arrive was Henry Hudson who is the one credited with finding the location of New York City in 1609. The first colonists were from the Netherlands and founded a fur trading post which was called Mannatthans which may have come from on eof three words of the Munsee peoples, manahactanienk which meant place of general inebriation, or manahatough meaning place where timber is procured for bows and arrows, or mnatay which was the word for island. In the year 1626 the Dutch purchased the island from the local inhabitants and then later that same year formed a settlement which they named New Amsterdam. The English occupied the area in 1664 and renamed it New York in honor of the Duke of York under whose auspices this endeavor took place. The city changed hands several more times until President George Washington named it the nation’s capitol for a short period of time after the end of the Revolutionary war. http://www.hellomanhattan.com/History.Cfm

Manhattan itself is nearly as iconic as New York City as a whole. There are numerous references to and about Manhattan in music, movies and popular culture.

1. The Manhattan Transfer: Jazz singing group
2. Manhattan: 1979 Woody Allen movie
3. Manhattan clam chowder: Tomato-based clam soup
4. The Muppets Take Manhattan: 1984 Jim Henson movie
5. "Manhattan": 1925 song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart