New Jersey has a lot to offer its residents and visitors, from the iconic Atlantic City boardwalk to a deep-rooted musical heritage with legends like Bruce Springsteen. This diverse state also has one of the highest population densities in the country and is a gateway between the urban bustle of New York City and Philadelphia and the more rural environs of southern Pennsylvania.
The name New Jersey derives from the Lenape Indian word for “wooded place.” Native American tribes lived in the area for thousands of years before European settlers arrived in the 16th century. The area remained a farming region until the Industrial Revolution, when New Jersey became a hub of manufacturing and industry. Today, the state is the most densely populated in the United States, and its people are a mixture of urban and suburban, poor and wealthy, progressive and conservative, and parochial and cosmopolitan.
Although it’s often viewed as a stepchild among the heavily industrialized and crowded Northeastern states, New Jersey is still a major social, economic, and political force in its own right. Its residents have one of the country’s highest rates of household income, and it’s home to the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation. New Jersey’s transportation system is among the busiest in the world, and it weaves the state into the fabric of the region by funneling goods and people to New York City and Philadelphia.
In 1776, the colony of New Jersey broke away from the British crown to become one of the thirteen colonies of the United States. Its decisive role in the American Revolution earned it the nickname, “Crossroads of the Revolution.” It was also one of the first places where industrialization took hold, and its thriving textile factories helped give rise to the American Dream.
New Jersey was the third state to ratify the Constitution and the first to approve the Bill of Rights. Its 56 Founding Fathers included a number of prominent politicians, including Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Witherspoon.
New Jersey is a Democratic stronghold, with the most Democratic counties being Camden County (including Newark and Jersey City), Essex County (including the cities of Elizabeth, Jersey City, and Newark), Hudson County, Middlesex County, and Union County. Bergen County and Burlington County are reliably Republican, as are the mountainous northwestern counties of Hunterdon, Warren, Sussex, and Warren Counties. The National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils are based in the city of Newark at the Prudential Center.