"Brooklyn, of ample hills, was mine," wrote Walt Whitman in 1856. Today, more than a century and a half later, one of Walt's successors might be inclined to echo him with a simple but equally heartfelt "In the house!"

There's something about Brooklyn that inspires these declarations of loyalty. Covering 71 square miles, home to just under 2-1/2 million people, the most populous of New York City's five boroughs would be the fourth largest city in the United States if it were to secede from Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. But statistics alone, impressive as they are, don't begin to explain what makes the place so special; for that, you have to look a little closer.

Even better, you can try the cuisine from any of those and other cultures. In the profiles below, you'll read about Colombian empanadas, Polish pierogis, Russian varenniki, and southern soul food, along with humbler but equally beloved staples like the egg cream and the Nathan's hot dog. (You might also be amazed, as we were, by just how many French bistros can be found in one borough of New York City.)

The easiest way to approach such a diverse assemblage of people and places, in fact, is as a collection of neighborhoods, which is how we've arranged our profile. Click on the linked names in the above map to read a mini-profile and see if that neighborhood could end up being your next destination.

Obviously there's more to see and do in Brooklyn than any one summary can do justice to, but we hope the following prompts will inspire you not just to visit once, but to keep coming back. Eventually, maybe, you may even be tempted to agree with some other local street signs—the ones that read, "Leaving Brooklyn? Fugheddaboudit!"