new york city currently has over 9 million people. over 20 million people live in the new york metropolitan area including the city. the majority of the people in new york city belong to ethnic groups that are minorities in the us. new york city has had large numbers of immigrants for centuries. in the early 19th century, they came from ireland and germany. later in the 19th century, they came from italy, russia and eastern europe. today, many are from puerto rico, haiti, the dominican republic and colombia. other ethnic groups living in new york city are turks, indians, mexicans, filipinos, eastern europeans, jamaicans, trinidadians, caribbeans and chinese. new york city has one of the largest hispanic and latino population in the united states.