Brooklyn

Brooklyn, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City, situated at the southwest extremity of Long Island. First settled in 1636 by Dutch farmers, Brooklyn was chartered as a city in 1834 and gradually absorbed the surrounding communities until it became a borough of New York (1896). Though its large area is primarily residential, it also has a considerable business and industrial area and the port handles a great share of New York's oceangoing traffic. Brooklyn's facilities for higher education include Pratt Institute, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn College, and parts of Long Island University (LIU). The Brooklyn Museum, located on the edge of Prospect Park, has a fine collection of Egyptian and primitive art and a notable group of 18th-century and 19th-century American paintings. The Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music have international reputations.

See also: New York City.