Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest borough of New York City in area and is adjacent to the borough of Brooklyn at the western end of Long Island, with Nassau County to the east. Queens also shares water borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island (via the Rockaways). Queens is the second-largest in population of the five New York City boroughs with a population of 2,230,722 as of the last official US Census count in 2010. Approximately 47 percent of the residents of Queens are foreign-born. Queens County also is the second-most-populous county in New York State, behind Kings County. If Queens were an independent city, it would be the fifth-most populous city in the United States after New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston. Queens is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth, one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States.Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of the Province of New York. The settlement was presumably named for the English Queen Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705). From 1683 until 1899, the County of Queens included what is now Nassau County. Queens became a borough during the consolidation of New York City in 1898.
Queens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City. It is home to John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Landmarks in Queens include Flushing Meadows–Corona Park; Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team; the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the US Open tennis tournament; Kaufman Astoria Studios; Silvercup Studios; and Aqueduct Racetrack. The borough has diverse housing, ranging from high-rise apartment buildings in some areas of western and central Queens, such as Ozone Park, Jackson Heights, Flushing, Astoria, and Long Island City, to neighborhoods with many low-rise structures in the eastern part of the borough. The Queens Night Market in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park attracts thousands nightly to sample food from dozens of countries.