Staten Island is the least populated of the five boroughs, with 495,747 people, but is the third largest in area, at 59 sq mi (153 km2).

Since the 2000 census, a rather large Russian community has been growing in Staten Island, particularly in the South Beach and Great Kills area.

The vast majority of the borough's African American and Hispanic residents live north of the Staten Island Expressway, or Interstate 278.

According to the 2009 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau,[3] Staten Island had a population 491,730, of which 48.7% were males and 51.3% were females.

There were over 175,000 Italian Americans living in Staten Island, and they make up over one-third (35.7%) of the population.

Roughly 65,000 Irish Americans live in the borough, and they make up over one-eighth (13.2%) of the population.

Compared to other New York City boroughs, Blacks were a relatively small percentage of Staten Island's residents.

In addition, over 7,200 people identified themselves as "Sub-Saharan African" in the survey, which was equal to 1.5% of Staten Island's total population.

Asians were a smaller minority group compared to blacks and Hispanics, but they were visible and growing.

Over 36,600 Asians call Staten Island home, and they represent 7.4% of the borough's population.

Staten Island was also home to the nations highest percentages of Sri Lankans.

Through most of the 20th century, NYC has long been dominantly populated by European American White enclaves, but starting in the 1970s and moving forward, there was a rapid increasing changing cultural and racial diversity in the city and by the 1980s going forward, Non-White enclaves became the dominant majority of the city while the overall white population fell under 50% including in each other borough; however, Staten Island is the only and last borough of NYC that is still retaining a more than 50% White European American majority despite the increasing cultural and racial diversity.

[6][7][8][full citation needed][9] However, Staten Island's White population has been steadily declining from 300,169 residents at 64.0% in 2010 to 277,981 at 56.1% in 2020, a loss of 22,188 or 7.4%.

[3] A large number of Italian Americans and their descendants on Staten Island are transplants who migrated from Brooklyn in the 1960s following the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964.

[citation needed] Many of these Italian residents claim Sicilian ancestry and some can trace their roots back to Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily.

Staten Island has large enclaves of Irish Americans scattered throughout the borough but mainly concentrated on the North Shore.

These tightly knit communities have remained densely populated with Irish Americans for over 100 years.

The Asian population was mostly concentrated in the areas alongside the Staten Island Expressway.

Other areas with a small concentration of Asians were Graniteville, Willowbrook, Concord, Castleton Corners, Park Hill, Rosebank, South Beach, and Grasmere.

Roughly half of Staten Island's Hispanics were of Puerto Rican descent.

Back in 2000, tracts 4 & 29 in Park Hill/Stapleton had a Black majority, but that was no longer the case, due to an increasing Hispanic and Asian population in the area.

These neighborhoods include Mariners' Harbor, Elm Park, Port Richmond, West New Brighton, New Brighton, St. George, Tompkinsville, Stapleton, Ward Hill, Park Hill & Sandy Ground as well as a growing population in Graniteville.

In total, 29.61% (128,827) of Staten Island's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.