New Jersey

New Jersey

(In Detail) (In Detail)
State nickname: The Garden State
Other U.S. States
Capital	Trenton
Largest City	Newark
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water  - % water	Ranked 47th 22,608 km² 19,231 km² 3,378 km² 15%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 9th 8,414,350 372/km²
Admittance into Union  - Order  - Date	3rd December 18, 1787
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Latitude Longitude	38°55'N to 41°21'23"N 73°53'39"W to 75°35'W
Width Length Elevation   -Highest   -Mean   -Lowest	110 km 240 km   550 meters 75 meters 0 meters
ISO 3166-2:	US-NJ

New Jersey is a state of the United States and its U.S. postal abbreviation is NJ. New Jersey was named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.

USS New Jersey was named in honor of this state.

History

Originally inhabited by tribes of the Lenape, New Jersey became a colony of Britain on March 12, 1664. King Charles II of England gave his brother, the Duke of York (later James II of England) 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 to two friends who had been loyal through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and John, Lord Berkeley.

Settlement for the first ten years of English rule was in the Hudson River region and came primarily from New England. 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.

New Jersey was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. 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.

New Jersey suffered heavy casualties in the September 11 Terrorist Attacks. Of the 3,000 people who died in September 11 2001, over 650 were commuters and air travelers (United Airlines Flight 93 took off from Newark Airport) from New Jersey. This meant the state lost more people in the attacks than any other state except New York.

Law and Government

Geography

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.) Among its geographical features:

• New Jersey Meadowlands
• Raritan River
• Watchung
• Sandy Hook
• Rancocas River
• Pine Barrens
• Delaware Water Gap

Economy

New Jersey's 1999 total state gross product was $332 billion, placing it 8^th in the nation. Its 2002 Per Capita Personal Income was $39,453, the second highest in the nation. [1]

Its agricultural outputs are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, seafood, and dairy products. Its industrial outputs are pharmaceutical and chemical products, food processing, electric equipment, printing and publishing, and tourism.

Demographics

As of the 2000 census, the population of New Jersey is 8,414,350. Its population grew 8.6% (666,600) from its 1990 levels. According to the 2000 census, 72.6% (6,104,705) identified themselves as White, 13.6% (1,141,821) as black, 13.3% (1,117,191) as Hispanic or Latino, 5.7% (480,276) as Asian, 0.2% (19,492) as American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.04% (3,329) as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 5.4% (450,972) as other, and 2.5% (213,755) identified themselves as belonging to two or more races.

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.

New Jersey is also noted for being the most densely populated state in the nation and the wealthiest state in the nation, with a median income of $55,146 a year, according to the 2000 census.

Transportation

The Garden State Parkway carries more in-state traffic, and runs from Montvale in Northern New Jersey ("North Jersey") to the southernmost tip of the state at Cape May. It is somewhat true that New Jersey residents locate their hometowns according to their exits on the Parkway or the Turnpike, whichever is closer.

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.

Also See: List of New Jersey State Highways

Important Cities and Towns

Major cities include:

Newark Hackensack Hoboken Elizabeth Jersey City Paterson Vineland

Atlantic City Cape May Camden Princeton New Brunswick Trenton - the state capital

Education

Colleges and Universities

Professional Sports Teams

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 Camden Riversharks New Jersey Cardinals Lakewood BlueClaws Trenton Thunder

External Links

• http://www.state.nj.us Official New Jersey state web site
• http://www.njslom.org/types.html Descriptions of NJ forms of government (e.g., township, borough, etc.) from NJ State League of Municipalities

Referenced By