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Home		New York		Kings County

Kings County is coterminous with Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen). Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located on western Long Island. Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents. Kings County is the most populous county in New York State, and the second most densely populated county in the United States (after New York County, the borough of Manhattan)....Click Here For More

Kings County is coterminous with Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen). Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located on western Long Island. Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents. Kings County is the most populous county in New York State, and the second most densely populated county in the United States (after New York County, the borough of Manhattan).

Though a part of New York City, Brooklyn maintains a distinct culture, independent art scene, and unique architectural heritage. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves where a particular ethnic group and culture predominate.

Brooklyn is located on the westernmost point of Long Island and shares its only land boundary with Queens (New York City borough) to the northeast. The northwesternmost section of this boundary is defined by Newtown Creek, which flows into the East River.

Brooklyn's waterfront faces different bodies of water. Northern Brooklyn's coast is defined by the East River, while middle Brooklyn adjoins Upper New York Bay. This area of the waterfront features the Red Hook peninsula and the Erie Basin. Buttermilk Channel separates this part of the waterfront from Governors Island. Southwest is Gowanus Bay, connected to the Gowanus Canal. At its south westernmost section, Brooklyn is separated from Staten Island by the Narrows, where Upper and Lower New York Bay meet.

Brooklyn's southern coast includes the barrier island on which stretch Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay. The southeastern coast lies on island-dotted Jamaica Bay.

The highest point in Brooklyn is the area around Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery, rising approximately 200 feet above sea level. There is also a minor elevation in Downtown Brooklyn known as Brooklyn Heights.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the County has a total area of 97 square miles, 71 square miles of which is land, and 26 square mile (27.13%) is water.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer has a manufacturing plant in Brooklyn that employs 990 workers. First established as a shipbuilding facility in 1801, the Brooklyn Navy Yard employed 70,000 people at is peak during World War II and was then the largest employer in the borough. The Missouri, the ship on which the Japanese formally surrendered, was built there, as was the iron-sided Civil War vessel the Monitor, and the Maine, whose sinking off Havana led to the start of the Spanish-American War. The Navy Yard is now a hub for industrial design firms, food processing businesses, and artisans, along with a growing film and television production industry. About 230 private-sector firms providing 4,000 jobs are at the Yard.

According to 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there are 2,486,235 people (up from 2.3 million in 1990), 880,727 households, and 583,922 families residing in Brooklyn. The population density was 34,920 persons per square mile. There were 930,866 housing units at an average density of 13,180 per square mile.

In 2000, 41.20% of Brooklyn residents were white; 36.44% were black; 7.54% were Asian; 0.41% were Native American; 0.06% Pacific Islander; 10.05% were of other races; and 4.27% were from two or more races. People of Hispanic or Latino origin, who may be of any race, comprised 19.79% of the population. 18.00% of the population reported speaking Spanish at home, 5.95% Russian, 4.19% French or a French-based creole, 3.92% Chinese, 3.10% Yiddish, 2.10% Italian, 1.42% Polish, 1.13% Hebrew, 1.09% Punjabi and 0.68% Urdu.

Of the 880,727 households in Brooklyn, 38.6% were married couples living together, 22.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households 27.8% are made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.41.

In Brooklyn the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. Brooklyn has more women, with 88.4 males for every 100 females.

The median income for households in Brooklyn was $32,135, and the median income for a family was $36,188. Males had a median income of $34,317, which was higher than females, whose median income was $30,516. The per capita income was $16,775. About 22% of families and 25.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34% of those under age 18 and 21.5% of those age 65 or over.