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New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to its east the Hudson River, Sandy Hook Bay, Long Island and the Atlantic Ocean. Delaware, is on the southwestern side with Pennsylvania just to its west.
New Jersey lies largely within the sprawling metropolitan areas of New York and Philadelphia.
Inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, the first European settlements in the area were established by the Swedes and Dutch in the early 1600s. The English later seized control of the region, naming it the Province of New Jersey, which was granted to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton as a colony. At this time, the name was taken from the largest of the English Channel Islands, Jersey. New Jersey was an important site during the American Revolutionary War; several decisive battles were fought there. Later, people who worked in factories in cities such as Paterson and Trenton helped to drive the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. New Jersey's position at the center of the Northeast Corridor, between Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., fueled its rapid growth through the suburban boom of the 1950s and beyond. Today, New Jersey has the highest population density and the second highest median income of any state in the United States.
New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south and southwest by Delaware across Delaware Bay; and on the west by Pennsylvania across the Delaware River.
Metropolitan statistical areas and divisions of New Jersey; counties shaded in blue hues are in the New York City metro; counties shaded in green hues are in the Philadelphia metro. It should be noted that Mercer County and Warren County are located in the 'Greater' New York Metropolitan Area and that Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland Counties are in the 'Greater' Philadelphia Metropolitan AreaNew Jersey can be thought of as five regions, based on natural geography and population. Northeastern New Jersey, the Gateway Region, lies within the New York metropolitan area, and some residents commute into the city to work. Northwestern New Jersey, or the "Skylands", is, compared to the northeast, more wooded, rural, and mountainous, but still a popular place to live. The "Shore" along the Atlantic Coast in the southeast has its own residence and lifestyle characteristics owing to the ocean. The southwest is within Metropolitan Philadelphia, and is included in the Delaware Valley. The fifth region is the Pine Barrens in the interior of the southern part and is covered rather extensively by mixed pine and oak forest, and as such has a much lower population density than much of the rest of the state.
New Jersey also can be broadly divided into three geographic regions: North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. Some people do not consider Central Jersey a region in its own right, but many believe it is a separate geographic and cultural area from the North and South.
The federal Office of Management and Budget divides New Jersey's counties into seven Metropolitan Statistical Areas, including sixteen counties in the New York City or Philadelphia metro areas. Four counties have independent metro areas, and Warren County joins another Pennsylvania-based metro area.
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