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New JerseyNew Jersey is the fifth smallest but most densely populated state of the United States of America; the U.S. postal abbreviation is NJ. The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.
GeographyNew Jersey is broadly divided into three geographic regions: they are North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. North Jersey is within New York City's general sphere of influence, with many of its residents commuting into the city for work. Central Jersey is a largely suburban area, while South Jersey is within Philadelphia's general sphere of influence. Such geographic definitions are broad, however, and there is often dispute over where one region begins and another ends. High Point Sussex County is the highest elevation in the state. New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania (the latter two across the Delaware River.) Prominent geographic features include:
HistoryOnce inhabited by the tribes of the Lenape Indians, New Jersey was settled by the Dutch in the early 1630s, who formed a settlement at present-day Jersey City. At the time, much of what is now New Jersey was claimed as part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which also included parts of present-day New York State and had its capital at New Amsterdam, now known as New York City. Some of southwestern New Jersey also was settled by the Swedes in the mid-1600s as part of the Swedish colony of New Sweden, which included parts of Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. These territories were taken by the Dutch in 1654 and incorporated into New Netherland. The entire region became a territory of Britain in 1664 when a British fleet under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is today New York Harbor and took over the colony. They met minimal resistance, perhaps because of the unpopularity of the Dutch colonial governor, Peter Stuyvesant. The newly taken lands were divided by King Charles II of England, who gave his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II) the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony). James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had been loyal through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. During the English Civil War the Island of Jersey remained loyal to The English Crown and gave sanctuary to the King. It was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was first proclaimed King of England in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I of England. In 1663 in recognition of his loyalty to the English Crown Sir George Carteret, Jersey's Royalist Governor, was gifted a large tract of land in North America henceforth known as New Jersey. Settlement for the first 10 years of English rule was in the Hudson River region and came primarily from New England. The first permanent English settlement was Elizabethtown, now Elizabeth. On March 18, 1673 Berkeley sold his half of New Jersey to Quakers in England (with William Penn acting as trustee for a time) who settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker colony. New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, West Jersey and East Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702. In 1702 the two provinces were united under a royal, rather than a proprietary, governor. Revolutionary War EraNew Jersey was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. During the War for Independence, British and American armies crossed New Jersey several times. In December, 1776, the Continental Army under George Washington crossed the Delaware River and engaged Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton. The river crossing has become an iconic moment in the early history of the United States of America, having been immortalized in Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. This image was also chosen to represent the State of New Jersey on the reverse side of the 1999 New Jersey State Quarter released by the United States Mint. Slightly more than a week after victory at Trenton, on January 3, 1777, the American forces scored an important victory over the British under Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton. In the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall at Princeton University, making Princeton the nation's capital for four months. It was there that the Continental Congress learned of the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the war. On November 20, 1789 the state became the first in the newly-formed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights. Ironically, on February 15, 1804 New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish slavery by enacting legislation that slowly phased out slavery. However, by the close of the Civil War, about a dozen African-Americans in New Jersey were still apprenticed freedmen and New Jersey initially refused to ratify the Constitutional Amendments banning Slavery and granting rights to America's black population. Women's suffrageThe New Jersey Constitution of 1776 gives the vote to "all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money." This included blacks, spinsters, and widows. (Married women could not own property under the common law.) It used to be held that this was an accident of hasty drafting: the British were at Staten Island when the constitution was proclaimed, and it declares itself temporary, void if there was a reconcilation with Great Britain. Klinghoffer and Elkis ("The Petticoat Electors: Women’s Suffrage in New Jersey, 1776–1807." Journal of the Early Republic 12, no. 2 (1992): 159–193.) show that it was a considered decision, and enforced by later law. Both sides in elections mocked the other for relying on "petticoat electors"; both accused each other of letting unqualified women (including married women) vote. A Federalist legislature passed a voting rights act which applied only to those counties where the Federalists were strong; a Democratic legislature extended it to the entire state. In 1807, as a side-effect of a reconciliation within the Democratic Party, the legislature reinterpreted the constitution (which had been an ordinary act of the Provincial Congress) to mean universal white male suffrage, with no property requirement; but they disenfranchised paupers, to keep down the Irish.
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As of 2004, the population of New Jersey was estimated to be 8,698,879. There are 1.6 million foreign-born living in the state (accounting for 19.2% of the state population). New Jersey is the tenth most populous state, but the most densely populated, at 1,134.4 residents per square mile. Race, Ethnicity, and AncestryThe racial makeup of New Jersey is: 66.0% White
Non-Hispanic It also has the second largest percentage of Jews (after New York), the second largest percentage of Muslims (after Michigan. New Jersey is the third most Italian-American state in the nation, according to the 2000 Census, and has large percentages of Blacks, Hispanics, Arabs, and Asians. The five largest ancestry groups in New Jersey are: Italian (17.9%), Irish (15.9%), African American (13.6%), German (12.6%), Polish (6.9%). Newark and Camden are two of the poorest cities in America, but New Jersey as a whole has the highest median household income in the nation, as well as the second highest per capita income, after Connecticut. This is largely due to the fact that so much of New Jersey is comprised of suburbs, most of them affluent, of New York City and Philadelphia. New Jersey is also the most densely populated state in the nation, and the first and only state that has had every one of its 21 counties deemed "urban," as opposed to rural. The dominant race, ethnicity, or ancestry by region and county, according to the 2000 Census, are the following:
6.7% of its population were reported as under 5, 24.8% under 18, and 13.2% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.5% of the population.
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New Jersey has long been an important area for both rock and rap music. Some prominent musicians with connections to New Jersey are:
Motion pictures and televisions shows also have been set in New
Jersey. The popular television drama The Sopranos depicts the life
of a New Jersey organized crime family and is filmed on location at
various places throughout the state.
The 2004 Sundance Film Festival favorite Garden State (starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman) was shot on location in Morris Township. Also, the popular animated series Megas XLR and Aqua Teen Hunger Force take place primarily in New Jersey.
Director Kevin Smith sets many of his films in New Jersey, particularly his "New Jersey Trilogy" of Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. The 2004 movie, Jersey Girl, is also based in New Jersey. Clerks also had a short-lived animated series spin-off with the same name. It took place in the same locations as the movie.
Actor Jack Nicholson grew up on the Jersey shore, and went to Manasquan High School in Monmouth County.
The 2004 stoner film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle took place in New Jersey. Several locations seen in the movie include Princeton University, Newark, New Brunswick, and a fictional White Castle in Cherry Hill.
Although supposedly set in New York, the 2003 movie School of Rock was filmed primarily in Edison and Mahwah, perhaps due to the significance these towns have on rock music.
The 1988 comedy film 'Big' starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, Jon Lovitz, and Mercedes Ruehl was also filmed in Bergen County, New Jersey.
Bruce Willis grew up in Penns Grove, New Jersey.
The movie War of the Worlds was filmed in many locations in New Jersey, including Bayonne and Newark, NJ.
A long circulated legend says a creature, the Jersey Devil or the Leeds Devil, terrorizes the population of the Pine Barrens. New Jersey is also home to several other urban legends, such as the ghost of Annie's Road in Totowa, Midgetville in Edgewater, Albino Village in Clifton, the haunted and demon-possessed Clinton Road in West Milford, and the Witch of Igoe Road in Marlboro. There is also the popular attraction of the Atco Ghost where the ghost of a little boy runs across the street late at night chasing a basketball located on Burnt Mill Road in Atco. It is also rumored that Jimmy Hoffa, the late leader of the Teamsters union, is buried beneath Giants Stadium or the New Jersey Turnpike.
Camp NoBeBoSco in Blairstown was the setting of the original Friday the 13th movie, which was partially based on real murders that have occurred near the campground, in the state's rural northwest. Such horror stories were the inspiration behind the now nationally-famous Weird NJ magazine and website.
The properties in the United States version of the board game Monopoly are named after the streets of Atlantic City.
Diners are considered very common in New Jersey, and it's thought that nearly all medium-sized and larger towns have one. New Jersey is home to many diner manufacturers.
 Diner Freehold NJ |
The New Jersey Turnpike is one of the best-known and most-trafficked roadways in the USA. This toll road carries interstate traffic between Delaware and New York. Commonly referred to as simply "the Turnpike," it is also known for its numerous rest-areas named after prominent New Jerseyans as varied as inventor Thomas Edison; United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton; U.S. Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson, ; writers James Fenimore Cooper, Joyce Kilmer, and Walt Whitman; patriot Molly Pitcher; Red Cross advocate Clara Barton, and football coach Vince Lombardi.
The Garden State Parkway, or just "the Parkway," and "The Garden State Parking Lot" on Fridays during the summer, carries more in-state traffic, and runs from the town of Montvale along New Jersey's northern border with New York to the southernmost tip of the state at Cape May. It is true that some New Jersey residents who live near the Parkway or the Turnpike (a majority of the state population) locate their hometowns according to their respective highway exits, though very few New Jerseyans living anywhere else in the state will do so. It also acts as the trunk that connects the New York metropolitan area to Atlantic City.
Other expressways in New Jersey include the Atlantic City Expressway, Palisades Interstate Parkway, Interstate 76, Interstate 78, and Interstate 80.
The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates extensive rail and bus service throughout the state. NJ Transit is a state-run corporation that began with the consolidation of several private bus companies in North Jersey. In the early 1980s, it acquired the commuter train operations of CONRAIL that connect towns in northern and central New Jersey to New York City. In 1989, NJ Transit began service between Atlantic City and Lindenwold, extending it to Philadelphia in the 1990s.
New Jersey has interstate compacts with all three neighboring states. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Delaware River Port Authority (with Pennsylvania), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority (with Delaware) operate most of the major transportation routes into and out of New Jersey. Tolls for the bridges are charged in one direction—it is free to get into New Jersey, but people have to pay to get out. The Scudders Falls bridge on I-95 near Trenton is still free as of this writing.
Newark Liberty International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the United States. Run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who runs the other two major airports in the New York City region: John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, it is one of the main airports serving the New York City area. Continental Airlines is Newark's largest tenant, operating an entire terminal at Newark which they use as a hub. United Airlines and FedEx operate cargo hubs. The airport has its own ralroad station on New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line which is also served by Amtrak.
New Jersey has 566 municipalities; until recently, 567. Unlike other states, all of its municipalities are incorporated entities, with fixed boundaries, and no local government can simply absorb land from another.
When the types of government were devised in the nineteenth century, the intention was that cities would be large built-up areas, with progressively smaller boroughs, towns, and villages; the rural areas in between would be relatively large townships. This is still often true, although Shrewsbury Township, New Jersey has been divided until it is less than a square mile, and consists of a single housing development. Some townships - notably Middletown, Brick, Hamilton, and Dover (which includes Toms River) have, without changing their boundaries, become large stretches of surburbia, as populous as (if often more spread out than) cities, often focused around shopping centers and highways rather than traditional downtowns and main streets.
As with Toms River, many locations in New Jersey are simply neighborhoods, with no exact boundaries; often the cluster of houses, the traditional neighborhood, the postal district, and the Census designated place will differ.
The five types of muncipality differ mostly in name. Originally each type had its own form of government, but more modern forms are available to any municipality, whatever it may be called. This is the only difference between boroughs and cities or townships: only boroughs can have the "borough form" of government (although few still do).
The Federal Government has often failed to understand that a New Jersey township is just another municipality; and some municipalities have become the Township of the Borough of Verona or the Township of South Orange Village to receive more Federal aid. The Census Bureau also has a hard time every ten years.
Loch
Arbour is New Jersey's only remaining village.
Large Cities (+ 100,000 pop.)
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Towns and small cities (60,000–99,999 pop.)
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Other (59,999 -) The following communities are college towns or other notable places in New Jersey with under 60,000 people. |
Wealth of cities by per capita income:
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Mantoloking, New Jersey $114,017 2 Saddle River, New Jersey $85,934 3 Far Hills, New Jersey $81,535 4 Essex Fells, New Jersey $77,434 5 Alpine, New Jersey $76,995 6 Millburn, New Jersey $76,796 7 Rumson, New Jersey $73,692 8 Harding Township, New Jersey $72,689 9 Teterboro, New Jersey $72,613 10 Bernardsville, New Jersey $69,854 |
693
Newark, New Jersey $13,009 694 Laurel Lake, New Jersey $12,965 695 Passaic, New Jersey $12,874 696 Seabrook Farms, New Jersey $12,499 697 McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey $12,364 698 New Hanover Township, New Jersey $12,140 699 Lakewood, New Jersey $11,802 700 Bridgeton, New Jersey $10,917 701 Fort Dix, New Jersey $10,543 702 Camden, New Jersey $9,815 |
Although some problems exist in certain inner city neighborhoods, New Jersey overall is considered to have one of the best public education systems in the United States. In addition, 54% of high school graduates continue on to college or university, tied with Massachusetts for the second highest rate in the nation (North Dakota holds first place at 59%. New Jersey also has the highest average scores for advanced placement testing in public schools in the nation.
New
Jersey is home to more scientists and engineers than any other state.
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In
addition to the afore mentioned institutions, there are 19 community
colleges, serving the 21 counties in the state.
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New Jersey Devils,
National Hockey League
New Jersey Nets, National Basketball Association
MetroStars, Major League Soccer
New Jersey Pride, Major League Lacrosse
National
Football League
New York Giants
New York Jets
Minor League Baseball teams
Atlantic City Surf
Camden Riversharks
New Jersey Cardinals (Augusta)
New Jersey Jackals (Montclair)
Newark Bears
Lakewood BlueC
