NYC’s largest borough is full of diversity and culture

The Manhattan Midtown skyline is seen (back) as cars travel over the Queensboro Bridge (C) and a train passes Queensboro Plaza Station in the borough of Queens in New York City on April 1, 2024. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

NEW YORK (PIX11) — At 109 square miles, Queens is New York City’s largest borough by area, according to the New York Metropolitan Council.

If Queens were its own city, it would be larger than other major metropolitan areas in the United States and one of the most diverse cities in the world.

Queens is larger than the following American cities:

• Miami, 36 square miles
• San Francisco, 47 square miles
• Boston, 48 square miles
• Minneapolis, 54 square miles
• Washington, DC, 62 square miles
• St Louis 62 square miles
• Baltimore, 81 square miles
• Seattle, 84 square miles

Queens also surpasses other major citiesies in diversity, with nearly half of the district’s 2.3 million residents born abroad. According to the World Population Review, it is the most diverse urban area on the planet.

Queens is bigger than these international cities:

• Vatican City 109 hectares
• Monaco 514 hectare
• Covers 7 square miles
• Barcelona 40 square miles
• Paris 41 square miles
• Vancouver 44 square miles
• Dublin 46 square miles
• Brussels 62 square miles
• Milan 70 square miles

The district has also left its mark on popular culture.

Punk pioneers the Ramones hailed from Queens, rehearsing in the basement of Joey’s mother’s art gallery on Queens Boulevard before breaking out at CBGBs in Manhattan, according to Scouting NY.

Queens-raised group Run-DMC had the first hip-hop video played on MTV. According to NYC TouristsM, A Tribe Called Quest, Ja Rule, LL Cool J, Mobb Deep and Salt-N-Pepa are all fromm Queens.

Flushing, Queens, is home to the largest and most diverse Chinatown in the U.S. It also has the largest Chinese population outside of Asia and an impressive culinary scene.

Culture and food aren’t the only areas where Queens makes its mark. The borough is also home to two of the New York City area’s three major airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.