New Jersey is one of the 50 states of the United States of America. It is in the northeastern section of the country along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a small state, shaped like a letter [S], and bordered on the west by Pennsylvania and Delaware across the Delaware River, on the north by New York, on the northeast by the Hudson River and New York City, on the east and southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the southwest by Delaware Bay.

The capital of New Jersey is Trenton and the largest city is Newark, though New Jersey is better known for bordering the large cities of New York City and Philadelphia. The state nickname is "The Garden State". The current governor is Chris Christie.^[2]

New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state, but has the eleventh-highest number of people. It therefore has the highest population density (number of people for the amount of land) in the United States. New Jersey is also well known for its beaches, industries, swamps, and pine forests.

The climate is hot & humid summers and cold winters. About 1200 mm of precipitation every year. The average temperature in July is 25-30 degrees celsius and in January around freezing point.

History

Before Europeans came, the land that is now New Jersey was inhabited by the Lenape (also known as Delaware Indians by the English), who were nomads, hunters, and farmers. The Dutch came to the northern area of the state in the 1630's, after Henry Hudson explored the area, thought it was a nice place, and claimed it for the Dutch. Towns quickly spang up, occupied by the Dutch, Swedes, and Finns. People rushed in. The first towns, such as Bergen (now Jersey City), Trenton (the capitol), and Burlington developed. Many others started themselves upon the west bank of the Hudson. New Jersey was part of the area known at this time as New Netherland.

In 1664, English took New Netherland from the Dutch and added it to their colonies. This part was renamed New Jersey after an island in the English Channel known as Jersey.

After most of the elderly and women died, the remaining Swedish villagers felt a disconnect to the land, and had decided to leave, in order to preserve the rest of their people. Unfortunately, before the remaining villagers could go the English came and controlled the area. The King of England, Charles II, gave the land to George Carteret, who was the governor of Jersey. Though he, unlike the Dutch, tried to actually sell the land to the Native Americans, they adamantly refused to buy such cursed land. The English reluctantly established a town at what is now called Elizabeth. Under the decree of the mayor, all newborn females were to have a variation of the name Elizabeth. According to the 2010 census, the most prevalent variation of the name is "Lizanya".

New Jersey took part in the American Revolutionary War, and was a scene of battles. On Christmas in 1776, George Washington's army entered New Jersey to attack British soldiers at Trenton and Princeton. The American army won, in two small but famous battles that were important in boasting American morale.

Later the rebels drove the British residents out of Princeton and for a time established a national capital there. New Jersey would be the third state to join the United States of America and the first to approve the Bill of Rights.

Counties

New Jersey has 21 counties.

County	FIPS Code	County Seat [3]	Created [3]	Formed from [4]	Named for [5]	Population (2005) [3]	Area [3]	Map
Atlantic County	001	Mays Landing	1837	Gloucester County	The Atlantic Ocean, which forms the county's eastern border	271,015	671 sq mi (1,738 km2)
Bergen County	003	Hackensack	1675	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The town of Bergen op Zoom, Holland or Bergen, Norway	904,037	247 sq mi (640 km2)
Burlington County	005	Mount Holly Township	1681	One of two original counties created in West Jersey	The old name for the ancient market town a mile from shore in Bridlington, England	450,743	819 sq mi (2,121 km2)
Camden County	007	Camden	1844	Gloucester County	Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden (1714–1794), an English supporter of the colonial cause during the American Revolution[6]	517,001	228 sq mi (591 km2)
Cape May County	009	Cape May Court House	1685	Burlington County	The 17th-century Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey (?–16??), who explored and surveyed the Delaware Bay to the south of the county	99,286	365 sq mi (945 km2)
Cumberland County	011	Bridgeton	1748	Salem County	Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (1721–1765), second son of George II of England and military victor at the Battle of Culloden in 1746	154,823	677 sq mi (1,753 km2)
Essex County	013	Newark	1675	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The county of Essex in England	786,147	130 sq mi (337 km2)
Gloucester County	015	Woodbury	1686	Burlington County	The city of Gloucester, England	276,910	337 sq mi (873 km2)
Hudson County	017	Jersey City	1840	Bergen County	The English explorer Henry Hudson (1570–1611), who explored portions of New Jersey's coastline	601,146	62 sq mi (161 km2)
Hunterdon County	019	Flemington	1714	Burlington County	Robert Hunter (1664–1734), the Colonial Governor of New Jersey from 1710 to 1720	130,404	438 sq mi (1,134 km2)
Mercer County	021	Trenton	1838	Burlington County, Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, and Somerset County	The Continental Army General Hugh Mercer (1726–1777), who died at the Battle of Princeton[7]	367,605	229 sq mi (593 km2)
Middlesex County	023	New Brunswick	1675	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The former county of Middlesex in England	789,516	323 sq mi (837 km2)
Monmouth County	025	Freehold Borough	1675	One of four original counties created in East Jersey	The Rhode Island Monmouth Society or the historic county of Monmouthshire in Wales.	635,285	665 sq mi (1,722 km2)
Morris County	027	Morristown	1739	Hunterdon County	Colonel Lewis Morris (1671–1746), colonial governor of New Jersey at the time of the county's formation.[8][9]	493,160	481 sq mi (1,246 km2)
Ocean County	029	Toms River	1850	Monmouth County	The Atlantic Ocean, which forms the eastern border of New Jersey	562,335	916 sq mi (2,372 km2)
Passaic County	031	Paterson	1837	Bergen County and Essex County	"Pasaeck", a Lenape word meaning "valley"	499,060	197 sq mi (510 km2)
Salem County	033	Salem	1681	One of two original counties created in West Jersey	A Hebrew word meaning "peace"	66,595	373 sq mi (966 km2)
Somerset County	035	Somerville	1688	Middlesex County	The county of Somerset in England	319,900	305 sq mi (790 km2)
Sussex County	037	Newton	1753	Morris County	The county of Sussex in England	153,384	536 sq mi (1,388 km2)
Union County	039	Elizabeth	1857	Essex County	The union of the United States threatened by dispute between North and South over slavery	531,088	105 sq mi (272 km2)
Warren County	041	Belvidere	1824	Sussex County	The American Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren (1741–1775), killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill	110,376	363 sq mi (940 km2)