New Jersey is a state located in both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the heavily urbanized Northeast megalopolis, it is bordered to the northwest, north, and northeast by New York State; on its east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on its west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania; and on its southwest by Delaware Bay and Delaware. At , New Jersey is the fifth-smallest U.S. state by land area. According to a 2025 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, it is the 11th-most populous state, with over 9.5 million residents, its highest estimated count ever. The state capital is Trenton, and the state's most populous city is Newark. New Jersey is the most densely populated U.S. state, and is the only U.S. state in which every county is deemed urban by the U.S. Census Bureau.
New Jersey was first inhabited by Paleo-Indians as early as 13,000 BC. The Lenape were the dominant Indigenous group when Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, and they were subdivided into dialectal groups such as the Munsee, in the north, and the Unami and the Unalachtigo, elsewhere. Dutch and Swedish colonists founded the first European settlements in the state, with the British later seizing control of the region and establishing the Province of New Jersey, named after the Channel Island of Jersey. The colony's fertile lands and relative religious tolerance drew a large and diverse population. New Jersey was among the Thirteen Colonies that supported the American Revolution, hosting several pivotal battles and military commands in the American Revolutionary War earning the title "Crossroads of the American Revolution". New Jersey remained in the Union during the American Civil War and provided troops, resources, and military leaders in support of the Union Army. After the war, the state emerged as a major manufacturing center and a leading destination for immigrants, helping drive the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. New Jersey was the site of many industrial, technological, and commercial innovations. Many prominent Americans associated with New Jersey have proven influential nationally and globally, including in academia, social advocacy, business, entertainment, government, military, non-profit leadership, and other fields.
New Jersey's central location in the Northeast megalopolis helped fuel its rapid growth and suburbanization in the second half of the 20th century. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the state's economy has become highly diversified, with major sectors, including New Jersey's role as the world's largest biopharmaceutical industry hub, and is widely known as the "Medicine Chest of the World". New Jersey excels in biotechnology, information technology, STEM education, finance, digital media, filmmaking, and tourism, and it has become an Atlantic seaboard epicenter for logistics and distribution. New Jersey is a major destination for immigrants and is home to one of the world's most multicultural populations. Since the onset of the 21st century, re-urbanization is taking place in New Jersey, particularly near New Jersey Transit rail hubs. New Jersey is the fastest-growing state in the U.S. Northeast and one of the fastest-growing in the United States overall, attributed to its resilient economy and aggressive homebuilding policies.
New Jersey is one of the most developed states in the U.S. New Jersey had a median household income of $99,781 as of 2023, the second-highest of any U.S. state behind Massachusetts. Almost one-tenth of all households in the state, or over 323,000, are millionaires, the highest representation of millionaires among all states and the highest density per square mile.Burrows, Dan. "Millionaires in America 2020: All 50 States Ranked How many millionaires are in America and where do they live? The states with the highest number of millionaire households just might surprise you." , Kiplinger, May 28, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020. "Millionaire households: 323,443 Total households: 3,312,916 Concentration of millionaires: 9.76%... For the second year in a row, New Jersey is the top spot for millionaires per capita in the U.S. Like Connecticut, New Jersey has a high concentration of millionaires largely thanks to its proximity to New York City." Despite not being a U.S. border state, one-quarter of New Jersey's population is foreign born, the second-highest proportion after California. The state ranks near the top on both the American Human Development Index and the standard Human Development Index. New Jersey has been ranked the top U.S. state in physical and emotional wellness, despite being one of the most expensive states for residents to live in.
According to climatology research by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Jersey has been the fastest-warming state by average air temperature over a 100-year period beginning in the early 20th century, which has been attributed to significant warming of the North Atlantic Ocean, and the coastal waters of the Jersey Shore constitute one of the fastest-warming urban ocean shorelines in the world.
History
Prehistoric era
The pressure of collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains. Around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic along with rivers, meadows, swamps, and gorges.
Since the 6th millennium BC, Native American people have inhabited New Jersey, beginning with the Lenape tribe. is the Lenape name for the land that represents present-day New Jersey. The Lenape were several autonomous groups that practiced maize agriculture in order to supplement their hunting and gathering in the region surrounding the Delaware River, the lower Hudson River, and western Long Island Sound. The Lenape were divided into matrilineal clans that were based upon common female ancestors. Clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign: Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf. They first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Dutch and later European settlers was through fur trade.
Colonial era
The Dutch were the first Europeans to lay claim to geographic territory in present-day New Jersey. The Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of the modern Mid-Atlantic states. Although the European principle of land ownership was not recognized by the Lenape, Dutch West India Company policy required its colonists to purchase land that they settled. The first to do so was Michiel Pauw, who established a patroonship called Pavonia in 1630 along North River, that eventually became Bergen, the first permanent settlement, local civil government, and municipality in the state. Peter Minuit's purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden, that lasted until the Dutch conquered it in 1655. The entire region became a territory of England on June 24, 1664, after an English fleet under command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is now New York Harbor and took control of Fort Amsterdam, annexing the entire province.
During the English Civil War, the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and gave sanctuary to the King. In the Royal Square in St Helier, Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II), the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony). James then granted land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. The area was named the Province of New Jersey.
Since its inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic and religious diversity. New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants. While the majority of residents lived in towns with individual landholdings of , a few rich proprietors owned vast estates. English Quakers and Anglicans owned large landholdings. Unlike Plymouth Colony, Jamestown and other colonies, New Jersey was populated by a secondary wave of immigrants who came from other colonies instead of those who migrated directly from Europe. New Jersey remained agrarian and rural throughout the colonial era, and commercial farming developed sporadically. Some townships, such as Burlington on the Delaware River and Perth Amboy, emerged as important ports for shipping to New York City and Philadelphia. The colony's fertile lands and tolerant religious policy drew more settlers, and the New Jersey population had increased to 120,000 by 1775.
Settlement for the first ten years of English rule took place along the Hackensack River and Arthur Kill. Settlers came primarily from New York and New England. On March 18, 1673, Berkeley sold his half of the colony to Quakers in England, who settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker colony, with William Penn acting as trustee for the lands for a time. New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, East and West Jersey, for 28 years between 1674 and 1702, which were part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689.
In 1702, the two provinces were reunited under a royal governor rather than a proprietary one. Edward Hyde, titled Lord Cornbury, became the first governor of the royal colony. Britain believed that he was an ineffective and corrupt ruler, taking bribes and speculating on land. In 1708, he was recalled to England. New Jersey was then ruled by the governors of New York, but this infuriated the settlers of New Jersey, who accused these governors of favoritism to New York. Judge Lewis Morris led the case for a separate governor, and was appointed governor by King George II in 1738.Streissguth pp. 30–36
Revolutionary War era
New Jersey was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution and declared independence from British rule. The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 was passed July 2, 1776, just two days before the Second Continental Congress declared American Independence from Great Britain. It was an act of the Provincial Congress, which made itself into the State Legislature. To reassure neutrals, the new constitution provided that the legislature would disband if New Jersey reached reconciliation with Great Britain. Among the 56 founders who signed the Declaration of Independence, five were New Jersey representatives: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, and Abraham Clark.
During the American Revolutionary War, British and American armies crossed New Jersey numerous times with several pivotal battles taking place in the state. In total, there were 296 engagements that occurred within New Jersey, more clashes than occurred in any other of the 13 colonies during the war. Because of this, New Jersey today is sometimes referred to as "The Crossroads of the American Revolution". The winter quarters of the Continental Army were established in New Jersey twice by General George Washington in Morristown, which has been called "The Military Capital of the American Revolution".