New Jersey News Facts

A Absecon Allentown Andover Asbury Park Atlantic City Atlantic Highlands Avalon Av enel B Barnegat Basking Ridge Bayonne Bayville Beach Haven Bedminster Belle Mead Bellev ille Bellmawr Belmar Belvidere Bergenfield Berkeley Heights Berlin Bernardsville Blackwood Blairstown Bloomfield Boonton Bordentown Bound Brook Branchville Bric k Bridgeton Bridgewater Brigantine Budd Lake Burlington Butler C Caldwell Califon Camden Cape May Cape May Court House Carlstadt Carteret Cedar G rove Chatham Cherry Hill Chester Clark Clementon Cliffside Park Clifton Clinton Closter Collingswood Colonia Colts Neck Cranbury Cranford D Deal Denville Dover Dumont Dunellen E East Brunswick East Hanover East Orange East Rutherford Eatontown Edgewater Edis on Egg Harbor City Egg Harbor Township Elizabeth Elmer Elmwood Park Emerson Engl ewood Englewood Cliffs Englishtown F Fair Lawn Fairfield Fairview Fanwood Farmingdale Flanders Flemington Florham Par k Forked River Fort Lee Franklin Franklin Lakes Franklin Park Franklinville Free hold Frenchtown G Garfield Glassboro Glen Rock Gloucester City H Hackensack Hackettstown Haddon Heights Haddonfield Haledon Hamburg Hammonton Har rison Hasbrouck Heights Hawthorne Hazlet Highland Park Hightstown Hillsborough H illside Hoboken Holmdel Hopatcong Hopewell Howell I Irvington Iselin J Jackson Jersey City K Keansburg Kearny Kenilworth Keyport L Lakehurst Lakewood Lambertville Lebanon Leonia Lincoln Park Linden Linwood Littl e Falls Little Ferry Little Silver Livingston Lodi Long Branch Long Valley Lyndh urst M Madison Mahwah Manahawkin Manasquan Maple Shade Maplewood Margate City Marlboro Marlton Matawan Mays Landing Maywood Medford Mendham Merchantville Metuchen Midd lesex Middletown Midland Park Milford Millburn Millington Millville Monmouth Jun ction Monroe Township Montclair Montvale Montville Moonachie Moorestown Morganvi lle Morris Plains Morristown Mount Holly Mount Laurel Mountainside Mullica Hill N Neptune Netcong New Brunswick New Providence Newark Newfoundland Newton North Ar lington North Bergen North Brunswick Northfield Northvale Nutley O Oakhurst Oakland Ocean City Old Bridge Oradell Orange P Palisades Park Paramus Park Ridge Parsippany Passaic Paterson Paulsboro Penningt on Penns Grove Pennsauken Pennsville Perth Amboy Phillipsburg Piscataway Pitman Plainfield Plainsboro Pleasantville Point Pleasant Beach Pompton Lakes Pompton P lains Princeton Princeton Junction R Rahway Ramsey Randolph Raritan Red Bank Ridgefield Ridgefield Park Ridgewood Rin gwood River Edge Riverside Riverton Rochelle Park Rockaway Roseland Roselle Rose lle Park Rumson Rutherford S Saddle Brook Saddle River Salem Sayreville Scotch Plains Sea Isle City Secaucus Sewell Short Hills Shrewsbury Sicklerville Somers Point Somerset Somerville Sout h Amboy South Hackensack South Orange South Plainfield South River Sparta Spring Lake Springfield Stratford Succasunna Summit Sussex Swedesboro T Teaneck Tenafly Toms River Totowa Trenton Tuckerton U Union Union City V Ventnor City Vernon Verona Vincentown Vineland Voorhees W Waldwick Warren Washington Watchung Wayne West Berlin West Milford West New York West Orange Westfield Westwood Whippany Whitehouse Station Whiting Wildwood Wil liamstown Willingboro Woodbridge Woodbury Woodstown Wyckoff New Jersey (often informally abbreviated to "Jersey") is a state in the MidAtla ntic and Northeastern regions of the United States . It is the fourth smallest, tenth most populous, and most densely populated state in the US. The state is na med after the island of Jersey in the English Channel . It is bordered on the no rth by New York , on the east by the Atlantic Ocean , on the southwest by Delawa re , and on the west by Pennsylvania . Parts of New Jersey lie within the metrop olitan areas of New York , Philadelphia , and the Delaware Valley . Inhabitated by Native Americans for more than 11,000 years, the area was settled by the Swedes and Dutch . The British later seized control of the region, which was granted to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Str atton as the colony of New Jersey. New Jersey was an important site during the A merican Revolutionary War ; several decisive battles were fought there. Later, w orkingclass cities such as Paterson helped to drive the Industrial Revolution i n the nineteenth century. New Jersey's position at the center of the BosWash meg alopolis , between Boston , New York City , Philadelphia , Baltimore and Washing ton, D.C. , fueled its rapid growth through the suburban boom of the 1950s and b eyond. Contents [ hide ] 1 Geography 2 Climate 3 History 3.1 Colonial era 3.2 Revolutionary War era 3.3 Nineteenth century 3.4 Twentieth century

4 Demographics 4.1 State population 4.2 Race, ethnicity, and ancestry 4.3 Religion

5 Economy 5.1 Oil refineries

6 Transportation 6.1 Roadways 6.2 Airports 6.3 Rail and bus 6.3.1 Private bus carriers 6.3.1.1 Carriers providing contract service to NJ Transit

7 Law and government 7.1 Counties 7.2 Municipalities 7.2.1 Types of government 7.2.2 Forms of government

7.3 Politics

8 Prominent cities and towns 8.1 Large cities (100,000 or greater) 8.2 Towns and small cities (60,000 up to 100,000) 8.3 Other (less than 60,000) 8.4 Wealth of municipalities

9 Education 9.1 Colleges and universities

10 Professional sports teams 11 Miscellaneous topics 11.1 State symbols 11.2 Music 11.3 Television and film 11.4 Legends and ghosts

12 References 13 See also 14

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Geography Main article: Geography of New Jersey See also: List of New Jersey counties Map of New Jersey showing major transportation networks and cities New York Harbor f rom the Staten Island Ferry , with views of Jersey City (in North Jersey ) and i ts Gold Coast featuring the 781foot (238 m) Goldman Sachs Tower . New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York ; on the east by the Atlantic O cean ; on the south and southwest by Delaware ; and on the west by Pennsylvania . The western border of New Jersey is largely defined by the Delaware River . Be cause of its dense population and because most communities of northern New Jerse y do not have the widespread reservoir system of neighboring Greater New York Ci ty, the slightest dry season leads to drought warnings; but because there are ma ny streams and rivers close to these communities, the slightest above average ra infall causes frequent flooding as many parts of Northern New Jersey are part of a flood plain . It is also at the center of the Boston to Washington megalopoli s. New Jersey is broadly divided into three geographic regions: North Jersey , Cent ral Jersey , and South Jersey . North Jersey lies within New York City 's genera l sphere of influence largely within the New York metropolitan area , in which r eside many residents commuting to the city to work. Central Jersey is a largely suburban area. South Jersey is within Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 's general sphe re of influence, and most of it is included in the Delaware Valley . Such geogra phic definitions are loosely defined, however, and there is often dispute over w here one region begins and another ends. Some people do not consider Central Jer sey to exist at all, but most believe it is a separate geographic and cultural a rea from the North and South. Additionally, the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth & Tourism Commission divi des the state into six distinct regions to facilitate the state's tourism indust ry. The regions are: Gateway Region , encompassing Hudson County , Essex County , Union County , Midd lesex County , Bergen County , and Passaic County . Skylands Region , encompassing Sussex County , Morris County , Warren County , H unterdon County , and Somerset County . Shore Region , encompassing Monmouth County and Ocean County . Delaware River Region , encompassing Mercer County , Burlington County , Camden County , Gloucester County , and Salem County . Greater Atlantic City Region , encompassing Atlantic County . Southern Shore Region , encompassing Cumberland County and Cape May County .

High Point , in Montague Township , Sussex County , is the highest elevation, at 1,803 feet (550 m ). Major rivers include the Manasquan , Maurice , Mullica , Passaic , Hackensack , Rahway , Rancocas , Raritan , Musconetcong , and Delaware rivers. The Palisades are a line of steep cliffs on the lower west side of the Hudson River . Sandy Hook , along the eastern coast, is a popular recreational beach. It is a b arrier spit and an extension of the Barnegat Peninsula along the state's Atlanti c Ocean coast. Areas managed by the National Park Service include: Appalachian National Scenic Trail Delaware National Scenic River Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Edison National Historic Site in West Orange Ellis Island National Monument Gateway National Recreation Area in Monmouth County Great Egg Harbor River Morristown National Historical Park in Morristown New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve

Prominent geographic features include: Delaware Water Gap The Highlands New Jersey Meadowlands Pine Barrens South Mountain

Climate New Jersey has a temperate climate , with warm/hot summers and cool/cold winters . During the hurricane season , tropical cyclones can hit New Jersey, though it is unusual for them to travel this far up the east coast . During the winter mon ths, Nor'easters can dump up to two feet of snow at once. The temperatures vary greatly from the northernmost part of New Jersey to the so uthernmost part of New Jersey. For example, these are the average high and low t emperatures for Cape May, NJ and Sussex, NJ : Sussex Cape May High Low High Low January 34 14 42 27 February 38 16 43 28 March 47 25 51 35 April 59 35 60 43 May 70 45 69 53 June 78 54 78 62 July 83 59 84 67 August 82 57 83 66 September 74 49 77 60 October 63 37 66 49 November 51 30 56 40 December 39 21 47 31

History Main article: History of New Jersey Some claim there is evidence suggesting that people have inhabited New Jersey since 10,500 BC. This would have been a post I ce age culture consisting of traveling hunters. However, the Europeans were the first to document the land. New Jersey's first European presence was not until t he year 1497, when an English explorer named John Cabot first saw New Jersey whi le sailing up the coast. Florentine, Giovanni da Verrazano , reportedly visited t he coast in 1524 but neither of these men are considered New Jersey's discoverer (McCormick 3). Cabot failed to explore the land and Verrazano left no record sup porting his claim. Sir Henry Hudson is the explorer generally credited with having discovered New J ersey in 1609. On September 4 , 1609 he dropped anchor in Cape May and took a cr ew of 20 men for a week of exploration. He didn't leave any European culture beh ind, but he did document his discovery very well. New Jersey's first taste of Eu ropean personality came from Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey . In 1620 he sailed u p the Delaware, and in 1624 he erected Fort Nassau at the Mouth of Timber Creek ( Pomfret 5b). He explored the greater Delaware Bay area and confirmed that the la nd was good for planting. He declared it as ready for colonization and named Cap e May in his own honor. Europeans agreed that the land was good for planting, but they felt discontent t owards the inhabitants. The LenniLenape tribe occupied New Jersey at this time. The Europeans found them strange and uncivilized; while in fact that couldn't h ave been further from the truth. The LenniLenape Native Americans tribe was par t of the greater Algonquin nation. The tribe was well organized into three groups , which were geographic distributed (Worton 27). These subtribes each had a sub chief or sakima. The subtribes each had their respective names, the Minsi, or th e people of the stony country in the north; the Unami, or the people down the ri ver in the central portion; and Unilachitgo or the people who leave near the oce an in the south (ibid 27). The Unami sakima was normally thought to be the chief of the whole LenniLenape tribe. The tribe was in fact so well organized that it had a network of trails resembling the locations of many of our modernday high ways. They were also the leading force of peace within the nation. The tribe was frequently asked to serve as intermediaries to settle intertribal conflicts. It was their contact with the early Dutch traders that would be the beginning of the end for the LenniLenape. In 1638, a company of Swedes and ethnic Finns , u nder the supervision of Dutch political and commercial interests, set sail for t he New World. They sailed across the North Atlantic, south along the New Jersey Coast, then into the Delaware Bay and up the Delaware River to Wilmington. They began to settle both sides of the Delaware at a site not far from what would bec ome Salem. A fort named Old Fort Elfsborg became the central hub for trade. The Scandinavian influence prevails today as linguists theorize that certain speech patterns in Southern New Jersey area are traceable to the mixed and changing Swe dishEnglish vocabulary.

Colonial era Main article: Colonial history of New Jersey Much of New Jersey was claimed by t he Dutch . The Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern New Y ork (Nieuw Amsterdam) and New Jersey. Although the European principle of land ow nership was not recognized by the Lenape, Dutch policy required formal purchase of all land settled upon, and the first such purchase was of Manhattan , by Pete r Minuit . The entire region became a territory of England in 1664, when a British fleet un der the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is today New York Ha rbor and took over the colony, against extremely little resistance. During the English Civil War the Channel Isle of Jersey remained loyal to the Cr own and gave sanctuary to the King. It was from the Royal Square in St. Helier t hat Charles II of England was first proclaimed King in 1649, following the execu tion of his father, Charles I . The North American lands were divided by Charles II , who gave his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II ) the region b etween New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal c olony). James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware Ri ver (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had remained loya l through the English Civil War : Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Strat ton . Rutgers University was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 Settlemen t for the first 10 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 the colony to Quakers in England (with William Penn acting as trustee for a time), w ho settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker colony. New Jersey was governe d as two distinct provinces, West Jersey and East Jersey , for the 28 years betw een 1674 and 1702. In 1702, the two provinces were united under a royal, rather than a proprietary, governor.

Revolutionary War era Main article: New Jersey during the American Revolution New Jersey was one of th e thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolutio n . The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 was passed July 2 , 1776 , just two days before the Second Continental Congress declared American Independence from Brit ain . New Jersey representatives Richard Stockton , John Witherspoon , Francis Hopkins on , John Hart , and Abraham Clark were among the men who signed the United Stat es Declaration of Independence . These men, just like all the others, took treme ndous risks in order to fight for independence and all went on to serve their ne wly founded country for the rest of their lives. Distinguished lawyer Richard St ockton, New Jersey born and College of New Jersey graduate, sacrificed his royal judicial title and his considerable international economic interest in order to be an elected delegate for New Jersey at the General Congress. John Witherspoon was a Scottish immigrant. He came to New Jersey to serve as the sixth president of the College of New Jersey. He was a world renowned Presbyterian minister and became a leading member of the Continental Congress . Witherspoon went on to be come one of the leaders of the new national Presbyterian church. Francis Hopkins on was somewhat of a renaissances man for his time. He was articulate in several fields of the arts and a very impressive scientist. Perhaps the capstone of his career was being appointed by President George Washington to the federal bench. John Hart was prominent land owner and judge of the Hunterdon County court. Lik e Stockton, he sacrificed his high standing with the royal court and dedicated h is life to the New Jersey Assembly. After signing the Declaration of Independenc e, he went on to become the speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. The last of the men was native to Elizabethtown, Abraham Clark. He was slightly different from h is fellow New Jersey representatives. He jumped from job to job working as a far mer, surveyor, transporter, legal adviser, and finally politician. He was well l iked in all these field and had become a prominent member of society, but he fou nd his home in government. Upon this he had held numerous political positions at all the various levels of government. It was an act of the Provincial Congress, which made itself into the state Legis lature. To reassure neutrals, it provided that it would become void if New Jerse y reached a reconciliation with Great Britain. During the American Revolutionary War , British and American armies crossed New Jersey numerous times and several pivotal battles took place in the state. Becau se of this, New Jersey today is often referred to as "The Crossroads of the Revo lution." On Christmas Day , 1776 , the Continental Army under George Washington crossed t he Delaware River and engaged the unprepared Hessian troops in the Battle of Tre nton . Slightly more than a week after victory at Trenton , on January 3 , 1777 , the American forces gained an important victory by stopping Cornwallis's charg es at the Second Battle of Trenton . By evading Cornwallis's army, Washington ma de a surprise attack on Princeton , and successfully defeated the British garris on there. Later, American forces under Washington met the forces under General Henry Clint on at the Battle of Monmouth in an indecisive engagement. Washington attempted t o take the British column by surprise; when the British army attempted to flank the Americans, the Americans retreated in disorder. The ranks were later reorgan ized and withstood the British charges. 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 (17 83) , which ended the war. New Jersey was the third state to ratify the United States Constitution , which was overwhelmingly popular in New Jersey, as it prevented New York and Pennsylva nia from charging and keeping tariffs on goods imported from Europe. In November 20 , 1789 , the state became the first in the newlyformed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights . The 1776 New Jersey State Constitution gave the vote to "all inhabitants" who ha d a certain level of wealth. This included both women and blacks; although not m arried women, who could not own property. Both sides, in several elections, clai med that the other side had had unqualified women vote, and mocked them for use of "petticoat electors" (entitled to vote or not); on the other hand, both parti es passed Voting Rights Acts. In 1807, the legislature passed a bill interpretin g the constitution to mean universal white male suffrage, excluding paupers. (Th is was less revolutionary than it sounds: the "constitution" was itself only an act of the legislature.) [1]

Nineteenth century Main article: New Jersey in the Nineteenth Century On February 15 , 1804 , New J ersey 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 AfricanAmericans in New Jersey were still apprenticed freedmen . New Jer sey initially refused to ratify the Constitutional Amendments banning slavery an d granting rights to America's Black population. Unlike the Revolutionary War, no Civil War battles took place within the state. However, throughout the course of the Civil War, over 80,000 enlisted in the Nor thern army to defeat the Southern rebels. In total, soldiers from New Jersey for med 4 militia regiments, 33 infantry regiments, 3 cavalry regiments, and 5 batte ries of light artillery. New Jersey was one of the few states to reject President Abraham Lincoln twice i n national elections, and sided with Stephen Douglas and George B. McClellan dur ing their campaigns. McClellan later became governor. During the war, the state was led first by Republican Governor Charles Smith Olden , then by Democrat Joel Parker . In 1844, the second state constitution was ratified and brought into effect. Cou nties thereby became districts for the State Senate, and some realignment of bou ndaries (including the creation of Mercer County ) immediately followed. This pr ovision was retained in the 1947 Constitution, but was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1961. While the Governorship was stronger than under the 1776 constitution (it could h ardly be weaker), the 1844 created many offices that were not responsible to him , or to the people, and gave him a threeyear term, but he could not succeed him self. In the Industrial Revolution , cities like Paterson grew and prospered. Previous ly, the economy had been largely agrarian, which was problematically subject to crop failures and poor soil. This caused a shift to a more industrialized econom y, one based on manufactured commodities such as textiles and silk . Inventor Th omas Edison also became an important figure of the Industrial Revolution, having been granted 1,093 patents. Transportation was greatly improved as locomotion a nd steamboats were introduced to New Jersey. Iron mining was also a prevalent industry during the middle to late 1800s. Mines such as Mt. Hope, Mine Hill and the Rockaway Valley Mines created a thriving in dustry, which spawned new towns and was one of the driving forces behind the nee d for the Morris Canal .

Twentieth century Main article: New Jersey in the Twentieth Century Through both World Wars, New J ersey was a center for war production, especially in naval construction. Battles hips, cruisers, and destroyers were all made in this state. In addition, Camp Ki lmer , Fort Dix (originally called "Camp Dix"), and Camp Merritt were all constr ucted to help American soldiers through both World Wars. New Jersey also became a principal location for defense in the Cold War . Fourteen Nike Missile station s were constructed, especially for the defense of New York City and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . PT109, commanded by Lt.(jg) John F. Kennedy, was built at the Elco Boatworks in Bayonne, and the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV6) was briefl y docked at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne in the 1950s before she was s ent to Japan to be scrapped. New Jersey became a prosperous state through the Roaring Twenties but fell in pr osperity under the Great Depression . Begging licenses were even offered to the unemployed by the state government in order to provide money for those who could not be helped by the exhausted state funds. [2] During this time period, the ze ppelin Hindenburg went up in flames over Lakehurst . In the 1960s, several race riots sprang up in New Jersey, the first of which occ urred in Jersey City on August 2 , 1964 . Several other riots ensued in 1967, in the cities of Newark and Plainfield . Camden also dealt with race riots in 1971 . The 1960s race riots in Freehold are mentioned in the Bruce Springsteen song " My Hometown ".

Demographics Main article: Demographics of New Jersey Historical population Census year Population 1790 184,139 1800 211,149 1810 245,562 1820 277,575 1830 320,823 1840 373,306 1850 489,555 1860 672,035 1870 906,096 1880 1,131,116 1890 1,444,933 1900 1,883,669 1910 2,537,167 1920 3,155,900 1930 4,041,334 1940 4,160,165 1950 4,835,329 1960 6,066,782 1970 7,168,164 1980 7,364,823 1990 7,730,188 2000 8,414,350

State population Residents of New Jersey are most commonly referred to as "New Jerseyans" or "New Jerseyites". The United States Census Bureau , as of 2005, estimated New Jersey 's population at 8,717,925, which represents an increase of 32,759, or 0.4%, fro m the prior year and an increase of 303,578, or 3.6%, since the last census in 2 000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 220,220 people (t hat is 604,110 births minus 383,890 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 95,293 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States res ulted in a net increase of 290,194 people, and migration within the country prod uced a net loss of 194,901 people. There are 1.6 million foreignborn living in the state (accounting for 19.2% of the population). New Jersey is the tenthmostpopulous state, but the most densely populated, at 1,134.4 residents per square mile (438.0 per km²), although the density varies w idely across the state. It is also the wealthiest state in the United States as per the United States Census Bureau. [3]

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry Demographics of New Jersey (csv) By race White Black AIAN Asian NHPI AIAN is Ame rican Indian or Alaskan Native NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 2000 (total population) 79.16% 14.98% 0.61% 6.28% 0.13% 2000 (hispanic only) 11.87% 1.29% 0.20% 0.10% 0.05% 2005 (total population) 77.68% 15.19% 0.66% 7.70% 0.15% 2005 (hispanic only) 13.66% 1.45% 0.22% 0.12% 0.06% Growth 20002005 (total population) 1.68% 5.01% 11.60% 27.06% 18.52% Growth 20002005 (nonhispanic only) 1.41% 3.89% 8.86% 27.17% 17.30% Growth 20002005 (hispanic only) 19.21% 16.92% 17.36% 20.28% 20.68%

New Jersey is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse states in the c ountry. It has the largest Jewish population by percent; the second largest Musl im population by percent (after Michigan ); the fourth highest ItalianAmerican population by percent of any state according to the 2000 Census ; and a large pe rcentage of the population is Black , Hispanic , Arab , and Asian . It has the s econd highest Indian American population of any state by absolute numbers. [4] [ 5] [6] [7] The five largest ancestry groups are: Italian (17.9%), Irish (15.9%), African Am erican (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 among the states. This is largely because so much of New Jersey consists of suburbs, most of them affluent, of New York City and Philadelphia . New Jersey is also the most densely populated stat e in the nation, and the only state that has had every one of its counties deeme d "urban" as defined by the Census Bureau 's Combined Statistical Area . [8] New Jersey population distribution The dominant race, ethnicity, or ancestry by county, according to the 2000 Census, are the following: Italian Bergen, Morris, Somerset, Ocean, Monmouth Irish Sussex Black Essex, Union, Mercer, Hudson German Warren, Hunterdon Polish/Slavic Middlesex Puerto Rican/Hispanic Hudson, Passaic

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.

Religion The religious affiliations of adults of New Jersey are (figures do not sum to 10 0 from rounding): Christian 77% Roman Catholic 39% Protestant 36% Baptist 9% Methodist 6% Presbyterian 4% Other Protestant or general Protestant 17%

Other Christian 2%

Jewish 6% Muslim 1% Other Religions (e.g. Hindu, Sikh) 1% NonReligious 16%

Economy The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Jersey's total state product in 2004 was $416 billion. [9] Its per capita personal income in 2004 was $41,636 , 4 th in the U.S. and 126% of the national average of $33,041. [10] Its median household income is the highest in the nation with $55,146. It is ranked 2nd in the nation by the number of places with per capita incomes above national averag e with 76.4%. Nine of New Jersey's counties are in the wealthiest 100 of the cou ntry. Women in New Jersey earn the highest per capita income as stated in a 2002 article in the Newark StarLedger . Its agricultural outputs are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, seafood, and dairy products. In particular, cranberries and eggplant are two of the state's largest crops. Hammonton in the southern part of the state is known as the blueberry capital of the world. Its industrial outputs are pharmaceutica l and chemical products, food processing, electric equipment, printing and publi shing, and tourism. New Jersey's economy has a large base of industry and chemic al manufacturing. Additionally, New Jersey is home to the largest petroleum cont ainment system outside of the Middle East . New Jersey hosts several business headquarters. Fifty Fortune 500 companies have headquarters in or conduct business from Morris County alone. New Jersey is sai d to have the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the world: nearl y one hundred companies on the Fortune 500 list have headquarters or conduct bus iness from New Jersey. Paramus is noted for having one of the highest retail sal es per person ratios in the nation. Several New Jersey counties such as Somerset (#7), Morris (10), Hunterdon (13), Bergen (21), Monmouth (42) counties have bee n ranked among the highestincome counties in the United States . Four others ar e also in the top 100. New Jersey's major industries are agriculture, tourism, nursery products, electr onics, manufacturing equipment, pharmacuticals, etc. This diversity enables New Jersey to weather volatility in the national economy and contributes to New Jers ey's low unemployment rate. New Jersey's geographical location between Philadelp hia and New York City has helped New Jersey to grow and thrive since the time of its colonial origin in 1702. Another of New Jersey's great strengths is its lar ge and welleducated labor pool that supports the myriad of industries that exis t today. The Port NewarkElizabeth Marine Terminal is one of the world's largest container ports. Newark Liberty International Airport is ranked seventh among t he nation's busiest airports and among the top 20 busiest airports in the world. Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson is one of the largest theme parks in the wo rld. It is home to the largest wild safari outside Africa and is now home to the world's tallest, fastest rollercoaster, Kingda Ka . As of 2001, New Jersey make s $30 billion each year from tourism, as stated in the StarLedger article "The Best Of New Jersey". New Jersey is one of the top ten most visited states in the nation. New Jersey has seven tax brackets for determining income tax rates. The rates ra nge from 1.4 percent to 8.97 percent. The sales tax rate is 7 percent, applicabl e to all retail sales unless specifically exempt by law. Exemptions include most food items for athome preparation, medicines, clothing, footwear, and disposab le paper products for use in the home. All real property located in the state is subject to property tax unless specifically exempted by statute. New Jersey doe s not assess an intangible personal property tax, but it does impose an inherita nce tax .

Oil refineries New Jersey is infamous for its abundance of oil refineries. The smell given off by the refineries is common to motorists who travel the New Jersey Turnpike . Th is is a list of the major oil refineries in the state: Bayway Refinery ( ConocoPhillips ), Linden, New Jersey 230,000 barrels per day ( bpd) Eagle Point Refinery ( Sunoco ), Westville, New Jersey 145,000 bpd Paulsboro Asphalt Refinery ( Citgo ), Paulsboro, New Jersey 51,000 bpd Paulsboro Refinery ( Valero ), Paulsboro, New Jersey 160,000 bpd Perth Amboy Refinery ( Chevron ), Perth Amboy, New Jersey 80,000 bpd Port Reading Refinery ( Hess ), Port Reading, New Jersey 62,000 bpd

Transportation Main article: Transportation in New Jersey Roadways The New Jersey Turnpike is one of the bestknown and mosttrafficked roadways in the United States . This toll road carries interstate traffic between Delaware and New York . Commonly referred to as simply "the Turnpike," it is known for it s numerous restareas named after prominent New Jerseyans as diverse as inventor Thomas Edison ; United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton ; Un ited States Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson ; writers James Fenim ore Cooper , Joyce Kilmer , and Walt Whitman ; patriot Molly Pitcher ; Red Cross advocate Clara Barton ; and football coach Vince Lombardi . The Garden State Parkway , or simply "the Parkway", carries more instate traffi c and runs from the town of Montvale along New Jersey's northern border to its s outhernmost tip at Cape May for 172.4 miles. It is the trunk that connects the N ew York metropolitan area to Atlantic City. Other expressways in New Jersey include the Atlantic City Expressway , the Palis ades Interstate Parkway , Interstate 76 , Interstate 78 , Interstate 80 , Inters tate 195 , Interstate 280 , Interstate 287 , and Interstate 295 . New Jersey has interstate compacts with all three neighboring states. The Port A uthority of New York and New Jersey , the Delaware River Port Authority (with Pe nnsylvania), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority (with Delaware) operate mo st of the major transportation routes into and out of New Jersey. Bridge tolls a re collected in one direction only it is free to cross into New Jersey, but moto rists must pay when exiting the state. Exceptions to this are the Dingman's Ferr y Bridge and the Delaware RiverTurnpike Toll Bridge where tolls are charged bot h ways. The Washington Crossing and Scudders Falls (on I95) bridges near Trento n, as well as Trenton's Calhoun Street and Bridge Street ("Trenton Makes") bridg es, are tollfree. See also: List of New Jersey State Highways Airports Newark Liberty International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the Unite d States. Operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , which runs the other two major airports in the New York City region ( John F. Kennedy Inte rnational Airport and LaGuardia Airport ), it is one of the main airports servin g the New York City area. Continental Airlines is the facility's largest tenant, operating an entire terminal at Newark, which it uses as one of its primary hub s . United Airlines and FedEx operate cargo hubs. The adjacent Newark Airport ra ilroad station provides access to the trains of Amtrak and New Jersey Transit al ong the Northeast Corridor Line . Two smaller commercial airports, Atlantic City International Airport and Trenton Mercer Airport , also operate in other parts of New Jersey. Teterboro Airport , in Bergen County , is a general aviation airport popular with private and corpo rate aircraft, due to its proximity to New York City.

Rail and bus Main article: New Jersey Transit The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates extensive rail and bus service throughout the state. NJ Transit is a s taterun corporation that began with the consolidation of several private bus co mpanies in North Jersey. In the early 1980s, it acquired the commuter train oper ations of Conrail that connect towns in northern and central New Jersey to New Y ork City . NJ Transit has eight lines that run throughout different parts of the state. Most of the trains start at various points in the state and most end at either Pennsylvania Station , in New York City , or Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken . NJ Transit began service between Atlantic City and Lindenwold in 1989 and exte nded it to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in the 1990s. This is the only mass tra nsit line that is based entirely in South Jersey , and the only one that connect s Philadelphia and Atlantic City. NJ Transit also operates three light rail systems in the state. The HudsonBerge n Light Rail connects Bayonne to North Bergen , with planned expansion into Berg en County communities. The Newark City Subway is the only subway system in the s tate. Its Main Line connects Newark Penn Station with Grove St. station in Bloom field . The Broad Street Line of the subway, the first component of the NewarkE lizabeth Rail Link , is scheduled to open in the summer of 2006. The last of the three light rail lines is the River LINE which connects Trenton and Camden . The PATH links North Jersey and New York City . The PATH operates four lines tha t connect various points of North Jersey and New York. The lines all start in ei ther Hudson County or Essex County , New Jersey and end either at the World Trad e Center station or at 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan . Amtrak also operates numerous longdistance passenger trains in New Jersey to an d from neighboring states and around the country. In addition to the Newark Airp ort connection, other major Amtrak railway stations include Trenton Rail Station , Metropark , and the grand historic Newark Penn Station . SEPTA also has two lines that operate into New Jersey. The R7 lines terminates a t the Trenton Rail Station, and the R3 lines terminates at the West Trenton Rail Station in Ewing . Some private bus carriers still remain in New Jersey. Most of these carriers ope rate with state funding to offset losses and state owned buses are provided to t hese carriers of which Coach USA companies make up the bulk. Other carriers incl ude private charter and tour bus operators that take gamblers from other parts o f New Jersey, New York City , Philadelphia , and Delaware to the casino resorts of Atlantic City .

Private bus carriers Academy Bergen Avenue IBOA Broadway IBOA Coach USA Properties including Red & Tan DeCamp Greyhound provides interstate service Lakeland Bus Lines MARTZ does not receive state funding or buses Montgomery & West Side IBOA TransBridge Lines

Carriers providing contract service to NJ Transit #22 Hillside Corp. & Academy Express (Academy) Community Transportation (Coach USA) Connex PABCO Transit Red & Tan (Coach USA)

Law and government Further information: Governor of New Jersey , Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey , New Jersey Legislature , and 2006 New Jersey State Government Shutdown Jon Cor zine ( Democrat ) is the governor . The Governor of New Jersey is considered one of the most powerful governors in the nation, as it is currently the only state wide elected office in the state and appoints many government officials. Former ly, an acting governor was even more powerful as he simultaneously served as pre sident of the senate, thus directing half of the legislative and all of the exec utive process. Richard Codey was the last to serve that way as the result of a c onstitutional amendment approved by the voters in 2005. The governor's mansion is Drumthwacket , located in Princeton Township . New Jersey is one of the few states that has no Lieutenant Governor . The first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey will take office in January, 2010 and will be elected conjointly with the Governor of New Jersey . The position was created as the result of a Constitutional amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution p assed by the voters on November 8 , 2005 and effective as of January 17 , 2006 . Picture Of The Town Hall Of Colts Neck Township, New Jersey The current version of the New Jersey State Constitution was adopted in 1947. It provides for a bica meral Legislature consisting of a Senate of 40 members and an Assembly of 80 mem bers. Each of the 40 legislative districts elects one Senator and two Assembly m embers. Assembly members are elected by the people for a twoyear term in all od dnumbered years; Senators are elected in the years ending in 1, 3, and 7 and th us serve either four or two year terms. See for the constitution The New Jersey Supreme Court [11] consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. All are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of a maj ority of the membership of the state senate. Justices serve an initial sevenyea r term, after which they can be reappointed to serve until age 70. On July 1 , 2006 , at 9:30 am, the government of New Jersey closed down amid a b udget dispute between Governor Jon Corzine and Assembly Democrats over a rise in the state's sales tax from 6% to 7% in order to fill a budget gap. The closure immediately shut down most government services, including road construction and the state lottery, and caused a temporary layoff of 45,000 state employees. Gove rnor Corzine announced that state parks, staterun beaches, and casinos in Atlan tic City (regulated by the state government's New Jersey Casino Control Commissi on ) would close by the morning of July 5 , 2006 , if no budget agreement had pa ssed by then, due to the lack of state monitors from NJCCC, which is required to be present at casinos by law. New Jersey law provides for essential services, s uch as state police and emergency services, to remain running regardless of the lack of a budget. However, all payments would be delayed until the annual approp riation bill was passed. [12] Finally, the Governor and lawmakers reached an agr eement to end this government shutdown on July 6 , 2006 . This agreement include s a hike in New Jersey's current 6% sales tax to 7% which will generate 1.1 bill ion dollars in revenue; half of this $1.1 billion will be used to lower property taxes, which are among the highest in the nation. [13]

Counties Further information: List of New Jersey counties New Jersey is broken up into 21 counties, most of which are vestiges of the colonial area, and the remaining we re partitioned from existing counties in the 1800s. New Jersey is the only state in the nation where elected county officials are called " Freeholders ," govern ing each county as part of its own Board of Chosen Freeholders . The number of f reeholders in each county is determined by referendum, and cannot exceed nine me mbers. Depending on the county, the executive and legislative functions may be performe d by the Board of Chosen Freeholders or split into separate branches of governme nt. In some counties, members of the Board of Chosen Freeholders perform both le gislative and executive functions on a commission basis, with each Freeholder as signed responsibility for a department or group of departments. In other countie s ( Atlantic , Bergen , Essex , Hudson and Mercer ), there is a directlyelected County Executive who performs the executive functions while the Board of Chosen Freeholders retains a legislative and oversight role. In counties without an Ex ecutive, a County Administrator (or County Manager) may be hired to perform day today administration of county functions.

Municipalities New Jersey has 566 municipalities ; until recently, 567 ( Pahaquarry Township wa s absorbed by Hardwick Township in 1997). Unlike other states, all of its munici palities are incorporated entities with fixed boundaries, and no local governmen t can simply absorb land from another.

Types of government When the types of government were devised in the nineteenth century, the intenti on was that cities would be large builtup areas, with progressively smaller bor oughs , towns , and villages ; the rural areas in between would be relatively la rge townships . This is still often true, although Shrewsbury Township has been divided over the years; today it is less than a square mile, consisting only of a single housing development. Some townshipsnotably Middletown , Brick , Hamilton , and Dover (which includes Toms River )have, without changing their boundaries, become large stretches of suburbia , as populous as cities, often focused aroun d shopping centers and highways rather than traditional downtowns and main stree ts. 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 Federal Government has often failed to understand that a New Jersey township is just another municipality, and some municipalities have changed forms to bec ome the Township of the Borough of Verona or the Township of South Orange Villag e to receive more Federal aid.

Forms of government New Jersey Local Government Traditional forms of municipal government

Borough Township City Town Village

Modern forms of municipal government

Walsh Act/Commission 1923 Municipal Manager Faulkner Act forms of municipal government

MayorCouncil CouncilManager Small Municipality MayorCouncilAdministrator The five types of municipality differ mostly in name. Originally, each type had its own form of government but more modern forms are available to any municipali ty, even though the original type is retained in its formal name. Only boroughs can have the "borough form" of government. Starting in the 1900s, largely driven by reformminded goals, a series of six mo dern forms of government was implemented. This began with the Walsh Act , enacte d in 1911, which provided for a 3 or 5member commission elected on a nonparti san basis. This was followed by the 1923 Municipal Manager Law , which offered a nonpartisan council, provided for a weak mayor elected by and from the members of the council, and introduced CouncilManager government with an (ideally apol itical) appointed manager responsible for daytoday administration of municipal affairs. The Faulkner Act , originally enacted in 1950 and substantially amended in 1981, offers four basic plans: MayorCouncil , CouncilManager , Small Municipality , and MayorCouncilAdministrator . The act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municip al affairs and offers great flexibility in allowing municipalities to select the characteristics of its government: the number of seats on the Council; seats se lected atlarge, by wards, or through a combination of both; staggered or concur rent terms of office; and a mayor chosen by the Council or elected directly by v oters. Most large municipalities and a majority of New Jersey's residents are go verned by municipalities with Faulkner Act charters. While municipalities retain their types of government, they may have changed to one of the modern forms of government, or further in the past to one of the othe r traditional forms, leading to municipalities with formal names quite baffling to the general public. For example, though there are four municipalities with th e village type of government, Loch Arbour is the only one remaining with the vil lage form of government. The three other villages Ridgefield Park (now with a Wal sh Act form), Ridgewood (now with a Faulkner Act CouncilManager charter), and m ost confusingly, South Orange (now the Township of South Orange Village) have all migrated to other nonvillage forms.

Politics Main article: Politics of New Jersey New Jersey was once a politically competiti ve state; the governorship alternated between the parties from the election of R ichard J. Hughes in 1961 until Democrat Jon Corzine was elected to replace a Dem ocrat in 2005; the legislature has also switched hands, and one house was evenly divided from 19992001. Three of the last five gubernatorial elections have been close. The Congressional seats have also been as evenly divided as thirteen seat s can be. Currently; the Democrats hold the post of Governor, have majority cont rol of both the houses of state legislature, have both Congressional Senate seat s and also most positions in state delegation to House of Representatives. In national elections, the state leans heavily towards the national Democratic P arty . It was, however, a Republican stronghold for years in the past, having gi ven comfortable margins of victory to the Republican candidate in the close elec tions of 1948 , 1968 , and 1976 . New Jersey was a crucial swing state in the el ections of 1960 , 1968 , and 1992 . In national elections, the state has given l arge victories to Democrats since the 1990's. The last elected Republican to hol d a Senate seat from New Jersey was Clifford P. Case in 1979. ( Nicholas F. Brad y was appointed a U.S. Senator by Governor Thomas Kean in 1982 after Harrison A. Williams resigned the Senate seat following the Abscam investigations.) The state's Democratic strongholds include Mercer County around Trenton and Prin ceton ; Essex County and Hudson County , the state's two most urban counties, ar ound the state's two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City ; Camden County and most of the other urban communities just outside of Philadelphia and New York ; and more suburban northern counties in New York's orbit, such as Union County an d Middlesex County . The more suburban northwestern and southeastern counties of the state are reliab ly Republican: Republicans have backing along the coast in Ocean County and in t he mountainous northwestern part of the state, especially Sussex County , Morris County , and Warren County . Somerset County and Hunterdon County , other subur ban counties in the region, are also Republican in local elections but can be co mpetitive in national races. In the 2004 General Election, Bush received about 5 1% in Somerset and 56% in Hunterdon, while up in rural Republican Sussex County, Bush won with 64% of the vote. About half of the counties in New Jersey, however, are considered swing counties , but some go more one way than others. For an example, Bergen County , which le ans Republican in the northern half of the county, is mostly Democratic in the m ore populated southern parts, causing it to usually vote slightly Democratic (sa me with Passaic County , with a highly populated Hispanic Democratic south and a rural, Republican north), other "swing" counties like Cape May County tend to g o Republican, as they also have population in conservative areas. Socially, New Jersey is considered one of the highly liberal and progressive sta tes in the nation. Just like other Northeast states, even conservatives and Rep ublicans are moderate and 'walk in the middle of the road'. Polls indicate 2/3rd s of the population are selfdescribed as prochoice and a majority support gay marriage . [14] [15]

Prominent cities and towns See also: List of Municipalities in New Jersey (by population) Major cities (and their populations):

Large cities (100,000 or greater) For its overall population and nationleading density, New Jersey has a relative paucity of classic large cities. As of the United States 2000 Census , only fou r municipalities had populations in excess of 100,000. With the 2004 Census esti mate, Woodbridge has surpassed Edison in population, as both joined the 100,000 club. Newark : 273,546 (Census Estimate 2004: 280,451) Jersey City : 240,055 (Census Estimate 2004: 239,079) Paterson : 149,222 (Census Estimate 2004: 150,869) Elizabeth : 120,568 (Census Estimate 2004: 124,724) Edison 97,687 (Census Estimate 2004: 100,142) Woodbridge Township : 97,203 (Census Estimate 2004: 100,775)

Towns and small cities (60,000 up to 100,000) Dover Township : 89,706 (Census Estimate 2004: 94,320) the Census 2000 total i ncludes the population of Toms River , a censusdesignated place within Dover To wnship. Toms River had a 2000 census population of 86,327. Dover Township is not to be confused with the town of Dover , which is in Morris County. Hamilton Township (Mercer County) : 87,109 Trenton : 85,403 Camden : 79,904 Clifton : 78,672 Brick Township : 76,119 Cherry Hill Township : 69,965 East Orange : 69,824 Passaic : 67,861 Union City : 67,088 Middletown Township : 66,327 Gloucester Township : 64,350 Bayonne : 61,842 Irvington : 60,695 Old Bridge Township 60,456 Lakewood Township 60,352

Other (less than 60,000) The following communities are other notable places in New Jersey with under 60,0 00 people . Asbury Park Atlantic City Cape May East Brunswick Egg Harbor Township Englewood Evesham Township Ewing Freehold Township Fort Lee Hackensack Hackettstown Haddonfield Hillsborough Hoboken Holmdel Jackson Lambertville Livingston Long Branch Maplewood Montclair Moorestown Morristown New Brunswick The Oranges Orange East Orange South Orange West Orange

Piscataway Plainfield Point Pleasant Princeton Princeton Borough Princeton Township

Red Bank Ridgewood Teaneck Tenafly Union Wayne Township Wildwood Willingboro

Wealth of municipalities Wealth of municipalities by per capita income : See also: New Jersey locations by per capita income 1 Mantoloking, New Jersey $1 14,017 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

Education Although some problems exist in certain inner city neighborhoods, New Jersey ove rall is considered to have one of the best public education systems in the Unite d States. 54% of high school graduates continue on to college or university, whi ch is 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. Secretary of Ed ucation Rick Rosenberg, appointed by Governor Jon Corzine , has created the Educ ation Advancement Initiative (EAI) to increase College admission rates by 10% fo r New Jersey's High School students, decrease drop out rates by 15%, and increas e the amount of money devoted to schools by 10%. Rosenberg was since forced to r etract this plan when publicly criticized for taking the money out of healthcare to fund this initiative. New Jersey is home to more scientists and engineers than any other state. [1]

Colleges and universities Assumption College for Sisters , Mendham Berkeley College , various campuses Bloomfield College , Bloomfield Caldwell College , Caldwell Centenary College , Hackettstown The College of New Jersey , Ewing Township College of Saint Elizabeth , Morristown Florham Park DeVry University , North Brunswick Drew University , Madison Fairleigh Dickinson University , Florham Park Madison & Teaneck Hackensack c ampuses Felician College , Rutherford & Lodi campuses Georgian Court University , Lakewood Kean University , Union Elizabeth Monmouth University , West Long Branch Montclair State University , Montclair New Jersey City University , Jersey City New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark Princeton University , Princeton Rabbinical College of America , Morristown, New Jersey Ramapo College , Mahwah Richard Stockton College of New Jersey , Pomona, New Jersey Rider University , Lawrenceville

Rowan University , Glassboro Rowan University, Camden Campus

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers, New Brunswick/Piscataway Ca mpus Rutgers, Camden Campus Rutgers, Newark Campus

Saint Peter's College , Jersey City Seton Hall University , South Orange Seton Hall University School of Law , Newar k

Stevens Institute of Technology , Hoboken Thomas Edison State College , Trenton University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Newark , Piscataway , & Stratford campuses New Jersey Medical School, Newark New Jersey Dental School, Newark Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick , Piscataway , & Camden campus es School of Health Related Professions, Newark , Piscataway , Scotch Plains , & St ratford campuses School of Nursing, Newark , Piscataway , Stratford , Mahwah , Glassboro , & Edis on campuses School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford School of Public Health, Newark , New Brunswick / Piscataway , Stratford / Camde n campuses

William Paterson University , Wayne

In addition to the above institutions, there are 19 county colleges , serving th e 21 counties in the state. Atlantic Cape Community College , Mays Landing Bergen Community College , Paramus Brookdale Community College , Lincroft the community college of Monmouth Count y Burlington County College , Pemberton Camden County College , Blackwood , Camden and Cherry Hill County College of Morris , Randolph Cumberland County College , Vineland Essex County College , Newark & West Caldwell campuses Gloucester County College , Sewell Hudson County Community College , Jersey City Mercer County Community College , West Windsor Middlesex County College , Edison Ocean County College , Toms River Passaic County Community College , Paterson Wanaque Wayne Raritan Valley Community College , North Branch Salem Community College , Carneys Point Sussex County Community College , Newton Union County College , Cranford , Elizabeth , and Plainfield Warren County Community College , Washington

Professional sports teams New Jersey currently has four major professional sports league teams playing in the state, although the Major League Soccer team and two National Football Leagu e teams identify as being from New York. It is currently the most populous state without a team in each of the major leagues, although this is largely due to th e close proximity of New York City and Philadelphia. It is also the most populou s state without a Major League Baseball team, though most residents support the New York Yankees , New York Mets , or Philadelphia Phillies . National Hockey League New Jersey Devils

National Basketball Association New Jersey Nets

Major League Soccer Red Bull New York possible 2009 expansion team in Glassboro, New Jersey

Major League Lacrosse New Jersey Pride Bergen River Dogs

National Football League New York Giants New York Jets

American Basketball Association Newark Express

Great Lakes Indoor Football League New York/New Jersey Revolution

Minor League Baseball teams Atlantic City Surf Bergen Cliff Hawks (planned, expected to play at Meadowlands Xanadu ) Camden Riversharks Lakewood BlueClaws New Jersey Jackals ( Montclair ) Newark Bears Somerset Patriots ( Bridgewater ) Sussex Skyhawks ( Augusta ) Trenton Thunder

Minor League Hockey team Trenton Titans

The state's four major professional sports teams play at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford . The Devils and Nets play in Continental Airlines Ar ena , and the Giants and Jets play in Giants Stadium . The Meadowlands and its s ports venues are widely considered to be outdated by today's professional sports standards. This led to the Devils announcement that they will be leaving the Me adowlands upon the completion of their new arena in Newark in 2007. The Nets als o have plans to leave the Meadowlands for Brooklyn as soon as a new arena for th em is completed. The Giants and Jets though announced in 2005 that they will be staying in the Meadowlands, and a new stadium for both teams should be ready by the 2010 season. The new stadium is part of the Xanadu Project taking shape at t he sports complex. The Xanadu Project, when completed in 2007, will be the large st retail and entertainment complex in New Jersey. The sports complex is also home to the Meadowlands Racetrack one of three major horse racing tracks in the state. The Meadowlands Racetrack along with Freehold Raceway in Freehold are two of the major harness racing tracks in North America . Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport , is also a popular spot for thoroughbred racing in New Jersey and the northeast. It will host the Breeders Cup in 2007, and its turf course was recently renovated in preparation.

Miscellaneous topics The USS New Jersey , one of the most decorated vessels in the United States Navy , was named in honor of this state and is now a tourist attraction in Camden . The official nickname is the "Garden State." New Jersey is the birthplace of many modern inventions such as: FM radio , the m otion picture camera, the lithium battery , the light bulb , transistors , and t he electric train. Other New Jersey creations include: the drivein movie, the c ultivated blueberry , cranberry sauce, the postcard, the boardwalk , the zipper, the phonograph , saltwater taffy , the dirigible [2] , the first use of a subma rine in warfare, and the ice cream cone. The first officially recorded baseball game in history was played at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey , with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Ne w York Knickerbockers with a score of 231. Alexander Cartwright formalized the rules and umpired . The properties in the United States version of the board game Monopoly are named after the streets of Atlantic City . The fourmile long Boardwalk in Atlantic City was the world's first boardwalk an d is still its largest. The Lindbergh kidnapping drama unfolded in New Jersey in 1932. New Jersey was the national pioneer of Megan's Law sex offender registries, foll owing the 1994 rape and murder of Megan Kanka . New Jersey has more horses per square mile than any other state. The United Stat es Equestrian Team now is headquartered in Gladstone after being founded in Morr istown . The book Jaws by Peter Benchley , which inspired the classic film of the same na me, was based on a series of actual shark attacks during the summer of 1916 that took place in Matawan and elsewhere off the Jersey Shore . New Jersey is home to the second largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River : the Great Passaic Falls in Paterson . Only Niagara Falls is larger. A diner i n Freehold Diners are common in New Jersey. The state is home to many diner manufacturers a nd has more diners than any other state: over 600. Due to the state's small size , New Jersey has more diners per square mile than any other state in America and World. [ citation needed ] Ben Shahn settled in Roosevelt, New Jersey , and did most of his work there. Sculptor Jim Gary grew up in Colts Neck Township where he also opened his galler y, Iron Butterfly , before moving it to Red Bank . Jim Gary was the only living sculptor ever invited to have a solo show at the Smithsonian Institution 's Nati onal Museum of Natural History . New Jersey is one of only two states (along with Oregon ) where selfservice fil ling of gasoline is prohibited.

State symbols The Garden State State animal Horse ( Equus caballus ) State bird Eastern Goldfinch State freshwater fish Brook Trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ) State Dance Square Dance State insect Honey Bee ( Apis mellifera ) State flower Common Meadow Violet ( Viola sororia ) State motto " Liberty and prosperity " State song " I'm From New Jersey " State tree Northern Red Oak ( Quercus borealis maxima ) (syn. Quercus rubra ) State dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii State soil Downer State color Buff and Jersey Blue State ship A.J. Meerwald State fruit Highbush Blueberry ( Vaccinium corymbosum ) State vegetable Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) State shell Knobbed whelk ( Busycon carica gmelin ) State number 3 State memorial tree Dogwood ( Cornus Florida ) State Slogan Come see for yourself

Music Main article: Music of New Jersey New Jersey has long been an important area for both rock and rap music. Some prominent musicians from or with significant conn ections to New Jersey are: Frank Sinatra , the only child of workingclass ItalianAmerican immigrants, was born December 12 , 1915 in a tenement at 415 Monroe St. in Hoboken . He sang wi th a neighborhood vocal group, the Hoboken Four, and appeared in neighborhood th eater amateur shows before he became an entertainment legend as an Academy Award winning actor and one of the most famous male vocalists of all time. Some of hi s greatest hits include "Strangers In The Night," "My Way," "Luck Be A Lady," an d "New York, New York." Four of five band members of rock group My Chemical Romance hail from New Jersey . The band frequently speak about their home state, and guitarist Frank Iero can be seen on occasion wearing a guitar strap with the letter NJ encircled in a he art. Bruce Springsteen , who has sung of New Jersey life on most of his albums, hails from Freehold and is the most popular rock musician to ever come out of the sta te. Some of his songs that represent New Jersey life are "Born To Run", "Spirit In The Night", "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)", "Thunder Road", "Atlantic City", a nd "Jungleland". Jon Bon Jovi , who hails from Sayreville , reached fame in the 1980's with hard rock outfit Bon Jovi . The band has also written many songs about life in New Je rsey including "Livin' On A Prayer" and even named one of his albums after the s tate (see New Jersey ) Dionne Warwick was born in East Orange and has had a long career, including near ly 60 charted hits, from "Do You Know The Way to San Jose?" (winning the first o f her five Grammys ), "Alfie," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," and "That's What Friends Are For." She is a cousin of Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston was born in the city of Newark but grew up in neighboring East O range . She had a successful solo career in the 1980's and 1990's and is best kn own for her cover of Dolly Parton 's " I Will Always Love You ", which set new r ecords for sales and weeks at number one. Houston has sold well over 180 million records internationally. Her mother is Cissy Houston , winner of two Grammys in her own right. Legendary jazz pianist and bandleader Count Basie , was born in Red Bank in 1904 . In the 1960s, he collaborated on several albums with fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra . There is a theater in Red Bank named in his honor. Asbury Park is home of The Stone Pony , where Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi fre quented early in their careers and is still considered by many to be a "Mecca" f or upandcoming Jersey Shore musicians. Former Fugee Lauryn Hill is a South Orange resident and is hiphop's bestsellin g solo female artist. Her 1998 debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill , so ld 10 million copies internationally. Irvington 's Queen Latifah was the first female rapper to succeed in music, film , and television. All members of The Sugarhill Gang were born in Englewood . The group wrote the s ingle Rapper's Delight which many credit as the first hip hop single. The terms rap and rapper are originated from this song. Princeton record exchange , the Northeast's largest independent record store, wa s founded in 1980 and is located in Princeton, New Jersey . They have been featu red in the New York Times and in Billboard Magazine , and have been praised by L CD Soundsystem in Wired Magazine . On a note of trivia, they have employed Micky of Ween before the band's rise to fame. The Broadway musical Jersey Boys is based on the lives of the members of the Fou r Seasons , three of whose members were born in New Jersey ( Tommy DeVito , Fran kie Valli , and Nick Massi )

Television and film Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, Jason Mewes as Jay Motion picture technology was inve nted in New Jersey, by Thomas Edison. The early work was done at his West Orange laboratory. His "Black Maria" was the first motion picture studio. More recent motion pictures and televisions shows also have been set in New Jers ey. The popular television drama The Sopranos depicts the life of a New Jersey o rganized crime family and is filmed on location at various places throughout the state. " The Family Man ," starring Nicholas Cage was filmed in Teaneck in 2000 . The 1979 film The Amityville Horror was filmed in Toms River . Daddy Warbucks' mansion from the movie "Annie" was built in 1929 by Hubert Parso n, the president of F.W. Woolworth. He called it Shadow Lawn. Now it is Woodrow Wilson Hall, owned by Monmouth University at West Long Branch, NJ. Although not credited, at least one scene from The Godfather ( 1972 ) was filmed in New Jersey. The scene with Clemenza's famous line, "Leave the gun. Take the cannolis," was filmed in the marsh along the Hudson River in Jersey City , just west of the Statue of Liberty , in what is now Liberty State Park . The 2004 Sundance Film Festival favorite Garden State (starring Zach Braff and N atalie Portman ) was shot on location in Morris Township around Morristown . The popular animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Megas XLR take place prim arily in New Jersey. Director Kevin Smith 's movies have a recurring set of characters (most famously Jay and Silent Bob ) and nearly all of them come from New Jersey (primarily the "tritown" area of Atlantic Highlands , Leonardo , and Red Bank ). The state ap pears in all of Smith's films, and his first three films, Clerks. , Mallrats and Chasing Amy , were dubbed the "New Jersey Trilogy". Smith's first movie, Clerks . also had a shortlived animated series spinoff by the same name. It took plac e in the same locations as the movie. Smith's subsequent efforts, Dogma , Jersey Girl , Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back , and Clerks II all had scenes taking pla ce in various New Jersey locales. 2001 's A Beautiful Mind had several scenes shot at both Princeton University an d Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison campus). The movie is a biopic of the mathematician John Nash , who currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey. The 1994 film I.Q. , about Albert Einstein's attempt to play matchmaker for his niece, was filmed in Princeton, Lawrenceville, Cranbury, and Rocky Hill. Brian Keith, Sandra Dee, and Frank Langella were all born in Bayonne. New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter was born in Pequannock. Florida Marlins pitcher Joe Borowski was born in Bayonne, and was the pitcher wh o gave up Derek Jeter's first career grand slam when he was a relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in 2005. Actor Jack Nicholson grew up on the Jersey shore, and went to Manasquan High Sch ool in Monmouth County. The school's auditorium is named after him. 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 . The 1993 film Coneheads was set and filmed in Paramus . Although supposedly set in New York , the 2003 movie School of Rock was filmed p rimarily 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 filmed in Bergen County, New Jersey , spec ifically in Cliffside Park . The 1983 cult classic Eddie and the Cruisers was filmed mostly in Somers Point a nd Ocean City . Goodfellas , the 1990 Martin Scorsese film about the mob, had some scenes filmed on location in Fort Lee . Although dealing Newark's notorious car thieves, the 1995 film New Jersey Drive [3] was shot in East Orange and Elizabeth, as well as Brooklyn and Queens, New Y ork. The movie War of the Worlds was filmed in many locations in New Jersey, includin g Bayonne , Howell Township and Newark . The infamous radio show broadcast starr ing Orson Welles , The War of the Worlds was set in Grover's Mill (a section of West Windsor Township ) and other locations around New Jersey. The Ron Howard film Cinderella Man and the Elia Kazan film On the Waterfront bot h take place in the old Hudson County docks. The cover of Joe Piscopo's comedy a lbum The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension ( 1984 ) was set in N ew Brunswick, and includes a scene set in "Greasy Tony's"a real Rutgersarea eate ry. Actor and comedian Joe Piscopo was born in Passaic . In 1985, he released a come dy album entitled "New Jersey." The cover art parodied the common (and erroneous ) perception of New Jersey as nothing but freeways and factories. The following year he starred in an HBO comedy special entitled The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Spe cial . In 2004, Piscopo announced that he was considering a run for the governor 's office. [16] Bruce Willis grew up in Penns Grove and graduated from Penns Grove High School. He returns to the borough occasionally to visit family. Tom Cruise went to high school and lived his teen years in Glen Ridge and briefl y attended elementary school at Packanack School in the Packanack Lake section o f Wayne . Susan Sarandon went to Edison High School in Edison Danny Devito was born in Neptune , went to school in Summit , and now lives in M analapan The medical drama House is set in New Jersey and takes place at the fictional Pr inceton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Overhead images of the building are actual ly the Frist Campus Center at Princeton University. In his comedy special What Am I Doing in New Jersey? , George Carlin comments th at he believes New Jersey deserves the title "Toll Booth Capital of the United S tates of America." He also suggests changing the state nickname from "The Garden State" to "The Toll Booth State." The NBC show Ed was based in the fictional town of Stuckeyville, Ohio, but filme d in various locations in New Jersey. Stuckeybowl, one of the main settings of t he show and where they also had numerous sets, was located in Northvale, New Jer sey before it was demolished in 2006. The Adventures of Pete & Pete , set in the fictional town of Wellesville in an u nnamed state, was filmed in New Jersey. Originally, the school scenes were shot in Bayonne and the neighborhood scenes in South Orange , and Leonia . For the th ird season, production took place in Cranford . The occasional New Jersey Transi t Bus or other such object in a shot would occasionally give this fact away.

Legends and ghosts Illustration of the Jersey Devil, drawn from a description by Nelson Evans in th e Philadelphia Evening Bulletin , 1909 A longcirculated legend says a creature, the Jersey Devil or the Leeds Devil, terrorizes the population of the Pine Barr ens . The New Jersey Devils are named for this mythical creature. New Jersey is also home to several other legends, such as the ghost of Annie's Road in Totowa ; Albino Village in Clifton ; the supposed Ku Klux Klan hotbed Whippoorwill Vall ey Road in Middletown ; the haunted and demonpossessed Clinton Road in West Mil ford ; and the Witch of Igoe Road in Marlboro . There is also the popular attrac tion of the Atco Ghost the ghost of a little boy runs across the street late at n ight chasing a basketball on Burnt Mill Road in Atco . It is also rumored that J immy Hoffa , the late leader of the Teamsters Union, is buried beneath Giants St adium or the New Jersey Turnpike . However, on the popular television show Mythb usters , the myth of Jimmy Hoffa being buried under Giants Stadium was debunked using ground penetrating radar . Camp NoBeBoSco in Blairstown was the location of the original Friday the 13th mo vie (some believe the series of films to be set in New Jersey, although this is never confirmed onscreen), which was partially based on real murders that have o ccurred near the campground, in the state's rural northwest. Such horror stories were the inspiration behind the now nationally famous Weird NJ magazine and web site.

References ^ Klinghoffer and Elkis ("The Petticoat Electors: Women's Suffrage in New Jersey , 17761807." Journal of the Early Republic 12, no. 2 (1992): 159193.) ^ Gerdes, Louise I. The 1930s, Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&geo_id=01000US&_box_head _nbr=GCTP14&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&format=US9 ^ The Foreign Born from India in the United States , dated December 1 , 2003 ^ Race/ethnicity citation with state percentages ( Adobe PDF ) ^ Diversity index citation with state percentages ( Microsoft Excel ) ^ Ancestry citation with state percentages (Adobe PDF) ^ http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metrocity/99mfips.txt ^ Bureau of Economic Analysis ^ Bureau of Economic Analysis ^ Supreme Court of New Jersey ^ http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/01/nj.budget.ap/index.html ^ New Jersey Reaches Budget Deal After SixDay Shutdown ^ SurveyUSA ProLife vs. Pro Choice Sorted by State ^ Garden State Equalty Poll Results from surveys done April 12 April 14 , 2005 ^ http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/20/joe.piscopo/

See also List of New Jerseyrelated topics List of people from New Jersey Ancestry citation with county maps (Adobe PDF) Specific ancestry maps by county, place, and census tract Scouting in New Jersey

New Jersey Portal New Jersey

Official New Jersey state web site Official New Jersey state tourism site A list of official and unofficial NJ county and municipal web sites Descriptions of NJ forms of government (e.g., township, borough, etc.) from NJ S tate League of Municipalities New Jersey Employment Data US Census Bureau Abandoned and Historic Mines of New Jersey New Jersey State Facts Upstage Magazine New Jersey arts & entertainment news AsburyMusic.com Asbury Park's Online Music Community NJ.com , portal site for the StarLedger , Asbury Park Press , and Trenton Times

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Horse Boarding Stables New Jersey

FULL CARE HORSE BOARDING: freshly crimped oats twice/day coastal hay daily stall cleaning with clean wood shavings daily turnouts (weather permitting) free trailer parking lighted indoor riding arena outdoor round pen 4horse walker OPTIONAL HORSE BOARDING SERVICES: winter blanketing stall fan heat lamp additional oats and/or hay feed supplements additional shavings administration of medicine, (nonintravenous) private paddocks evening turnout Liberty Farm, LLC Beautiful 21 Stall Facility catering to Hunters, Jumpers, Equitation, Training a nd Sale horses. 12x12 Stalls attached to Indoor with rubber & fiber footing. 100 X200 outdoor arena, heated viewing and tack room. 2 Wash Stalls. All weather tur nouts. We specialize in Quality Care for Horse and Rider. Staff lives on Propert y. Great group of dedicated horse people. Highly Trained Staff. Catering to ALL levels of riding! Come visit or send us an email for more details! This horse farm operation services: Bridgewater, New Jersey Dreams Come True Farm A top quality horse boarding, training, and layup facility providing quality se rvices at the most reasonable rates in the area. We provide boarding, lessons, c onsignment sales, and other related services to our clients and barn features an attached indoor arena, 12X12 minimum size stalls, and full amenities. Stalls fo r board and training spots currently available. Contact us for a tour today. This horse farm operation services: Flemington, New Jersey ARABIAN PINES FARM bRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART FACILITY 10 STALL BARN, RIDING ARENA, TRAINING AND LE SSONS.DAILY TURNOUT. CALL KEVIN OR SUE AT 9736685311 This horse farm operation services: Randolph, New Jersey Christmas Eve Farm Indoor stalls and paddocks available for rent in Cream Ridge area/Upper Freehold , NJ. Quiet and private surrounded by huge nursery. Rough or full board. Owner o n premises. Modern barn has 4 stalls, center aisle, tack and feed rooms. Paddock s included with stall rental and have runin sheds. Electric and water at barn. Available singley, or entire barn for rent (all 4 stalls). Reasonable rates. Em ail Joe @ [email protected]. This services: Freehold, New Jersey Whiskey Lane Farm Georgeous boarding and training facility for dressage, eventing and showjumping. Olympic size new 225x110 Indoor arena, 100x200 rubber outdoor jumping arena, 20 x40m regulation size small dressage arena. Over 20 acres of lush grass turnouts divided into 13 paddocks, some with large turnout sheds. Full day/night individu al or paired turnout. Top care, full training, lesson programs. Shows and clinic s. Ponderosa Horse Farm Horse boarding available in Colts Neck, NJ. Full, pasture, layup boarding servi ces offering individual care for your horse. Outdoor riding ring and easy access to trails. 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We strive in keeping our boarders horses in a safe and stress free environment. Located in Bo rdentown Twp., Burlington County, NJ just minutes from PA (exit 7 NJ TPK) This horse farm operation services: Mount Holly, New Jersey Evergreen Valley Stables Quality, full board in Sussex County, NJ. 5 mins from Rt. 206 and 20 mins from R t. 80. Facility has outdoor riding arena with outdoor lighting, indoor and outdo or stalls available. Acres of grass outdoor pasture. Pls. call barn owner, 9739 480338 for details. You may visit our web site at www.evergreenvalleystables.co m for pricing. This services: Newton, New Jersey Fox Ridge Farm Located in Vernon, NJ, just a few minutes over the Warwick, NY border, & 1 hour from NYC, Fox Ridge Farm is a clean, safe, modern facility & offers an indoor ri ng with rubber footing, a lighted outdoor sand ring, a lighted 60' round pen w/ rubber footing, trails, 12 X 14 matted stalls, daily allday turnout in large fi elds with all wood fencing, heated full kitchen & bath. Quality hay & grain fed 2 x's a day. Friendly, family atmosphere & the best rates around, board $445. $495 per month. Carousel Farms LLC Specializing in Arabian horses but all breeds welcome. Boarding, training, lesso ns and sales. Horses for lease,lessons available. Beautiful facility with top no tch instruction and staff. English,Western, Dressage,Halter and Driving. Full bo ard ONLY with large rubber matted stalls, automatic waterers, wash stalls, indoo r and outdoor rings, heated lounge with bathrooms and heated tack room. Legal si ze dressage ring. Owners live on premises.