The Bronx
borough of New York City, New York, United States
The Bronx ( BRONKS) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The Bronx has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km2) and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 census. It has the fourth largest area, fourth largest population, and third highest population density of the boroughs. The Bronx is the only borough located primarily on the U.S. mainland, bordering Westchester County to its north; the Hudson River and the borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River, to its west; the borough of Queens, across the East River, to its south; and Long Island Sound to its east. The borough is coextensive with Bronx County, one of the 62 counties of New York State.
The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the west and a flatter eastern section. East and west street names are divided by Jerome Avenue. The west was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. Bronx County was separated from New York County (which had included the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx) in 1914. About a quarter of the Bronx's area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the borough's north and center.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Bronx” is borough of New York City, New York, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bronx, borough and York, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “borough of New York City, New York, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18426. VIAF identifies the subject as 239915682. The Library of Congress control number is n81059724. Authority coordinates are 40.847, -73.873. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1874, 1895 and 1914.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Bronx”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Bronx primary sources, The Bronx archive and Bronx research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Bronx”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Bronx” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.