New York metropolitan area : Ask Biography

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The New York metropolitan area, also known as Metropolitan New York, Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the most populous metropolitan area in the United States and is also one of the most populous in the world. The metropolitan area is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with a population of 18,897,109 as of the 2010 census. (roughly 1 in 16 Americans) as of 2010. The MSA is further subdivided into four metropolitan divisions. The 23-county metropolitan area includes ten counties in New York State (those coinciding with the five boroughs of New York City, the two counties of Long Island, and three counties in the lower Hudson Valley); 12 counties in Northern and Central New Jersey; and one county in northeastern Pennsylvania. The largest urbanized area in the United States is at the heart of the metropolitan area, the New York - Newark, NY - NJ - CT Urbanized Area (estimated to have a population of 18,319,939 as of 2008). The region also serves as the heart of the Northeast megalopolis.

Based on commuting patterns, the Office of Management and Budget also defines a wider region consisting of the New York metropolitan area plus five adjacent metropolitan areas. The area is known as the New York-Newark-Bridgeport, New York-New Jersey-Connecticut-Pennsylvania Combined Statistical Area (CSA), with an estimated population of 22,085,649 as of 2009. About one out of every fifteen Americans resides in this region, which includes seven additional counties in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and is often referred to as the Tri-state Area and less commonly the Tri-State Region (leaving out Pennsylvania). However, the New York City television designated market area (DMA) includes Pike County, Pennsylvania, which is also included in the CSA.

This wider region includes the largest city in the United States (New York City), the five largest cities in New Jersey (Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Paterson and Trenton) and six of the seven largest cities in Connecticut (Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk & Danbury). The total land area of the extended metropolitan area is 11842 sqmi (30670.6 km2).