Staten Island is one of New York City's five boroughs, located in the southernmost parts of both New York City and New York state. The island was discovered by Dutch-employed explorer Henry Hudson in 1609 and was named in honor of the States General, the Dutch parliament. The island was settled in 1661, and the island became coterminous with Richmond County, New York. In 1898, the towns of Staten Island were consolidated into New York City, and the island's old neighborhoods were carved up by the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and Staten Island's three other major bridges. The island was unlike the rest of New York City in that it was predominantly suburban and lacked the scenery of Manhattan and Brooklyn and in that it was a predominantly Republican borough (as opposed to the four other, predominantly Democratic, boroughs). A 1993 referendum in secession led to 65% of Staten Islanders supporting secession from New York City, but the State Assembly did not act upon the referendum. In 2010, Staten Island had a population of 468,730 people, with 33.7% being of Italian descent, 14.2% Irish, 5.7% German, 3.8% Russian, 3.4% Polish, 1.6% English, 1.3% Ukrainian, 1% Norwegian, 1% Greek, and .9% French.
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