Steve Nelsen, age 8, of Brooklyn, N.Y., for his question:

HOW DID BROOKLYN RECEIVE ITS NAME?

Brooklyn is one of five districts which make up New York City. Called boroughs, the other four are Manhattan, Long Island, Queens and the Bronx.

Brooklyn was incorporated as a city of its own in 1834 and it continued to have its own government until 1898. In that year it was absorbed by New York City.

Dutch pioneers founded the city in 1636 and they named it Breuckelen, after a town in Holland. The name's spelling changed a number of times , until it became Brooklyn.

The borough of Brooklyn has almost 3 million people. It is one of the leading seaports and manufacturing centers in the United States.

Brooklyn is often called the Rooming House of New York City since many people live there and go to work each day in the Manhattan business district across the East River.