North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. As a distinct toponym, North Jersey is a colloquial one rather than an administrative one, reflecting geographical and perceived cultural and other differences between it and the southern part of the state. [1] [2]
North Jersey is characterized by its position, both geographically and culturally, within the greater New York City metropolitan area, as well as its high economic output, including its regional economic engines of Paramus in Bergen County, which had $6 billion in annual retail sales as of 2018 [3] and Jersey City, whose financial district has been nicknamed "Wall Street West", [4] Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, and Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal.
Bergen County is the most populous county in both North Jersey and the state and serves as the western terminus for the George Washington Bridge, the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, which connects Fort Lee, New Jersey to Upper Manhattan in New York City. [5] Newark, located in Essex County, is New Jersey's most populous city. Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth, located in Hudson, Passaic, and Union counties in North Jersey are the second, third, and fourth most populous cities in the state after Newark.
The exact definition of which counties constitute North Jersey is a subject of debate. Definitions of the North Jersey region of the state most consistently include Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties, though definitions of North Jersey frequently vary and may include other New Jersey counties in the New York metropolitan area that are sometimes differentiated as or considered "Central Jersey", including Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Somerset County, Hunterdon County, Mercer County, and even the northern portion or all of Ocean County.
Geologically, North Jersey is largely in the Piedmont Province, the Highlands Province, and the Ridge and Valley Province. Depending on definitions, some are counted as being in the Atlantic coastal plain.
North Jersey has a Humid Continental Climate (Dfb) by Köppen.
One particular definition of North Jersey includes all points in New Jersey north of I-295 in the western part of the state and all points north of I-195 in the eastern part of the state. Another definition uses the old 1956-era 201 telephone area code, not the modern 201 area code, and all its additions, as this area code loosely included all of New Jersey north of Trenton. Some residents of the northern tier of counties use a narrower definition, counting only that area north of the mouth of the Raritan River. Conversely, people in South Jersey and within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, when using a two-portion approach that excludes Central Jersey as a separate category, may define North Jersey as consisting of Ocean County and every county north of it, essentially placing all New Jersey counties that are within the New York metropolitan area under the definition of North Jersey. The state is also sometimes described as having North Jersey and South Jersey separated from each other by Central Jersey. [6]
In 2008, the New Jersey State Department of Tourism divided the state into six tourist regions with the Gateway and Skylands regions included in North Jersey. [7]
The following counties are most consistently considered North Jersey:
North Jersey was the site of some of the earliest European settlements in what would become the United States of America. Its colonial history started after Henry Hudson sailed through Newark Bay in 1609. Although Hudson was British, he worked for the Netherlands, so he claimed the land for the Dutch as part of the provincial colony of New Netherland, [8] with original settlements centered in Bergen in today's Hudson County. In 1664, the region became part of the Province of New Jersey.
During the American Revolutionary War, New Jersey was a strategic location between New York City, and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Important materials necessary to the war effort were sometimes produced in North Jersey, and the Continental Army made its home in North Jersey for part of the war. George Washington, commanding general of the Continental Army, maintained his headquarters at Ford Mansion in Morristown for part of the Revolutionary War, from December 1779 to June 1780. In the northwestern part of the state, iron mines and foundries supplied raw material for the Continental Army's guns and ammunition.
The American Industrial Revolution started by the founding of the North Jersey town of Paterson. Today, the United States and the world enjoy the fruit born of seeds planted in North Jersey during the Industrial Revolution. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary for the Treasury and President of the Bank of New York during the end of the eighteenth century, selected the Great Falls area, also known as the Passaic Falls, for an ambitious experiment. He promoted the natural power of the Great Falls as an excellent location for textile mills and other manufacturers.
Paterson attracted skilled craftsmen and engineers from Europe to run the mills and produced a large concentration of creative and able people. During the mid-nineteenth century, many of the engines and materials that would be used to colonize a continent were made here. Thomas Edison installed one of the first hydroelectric power plants in the world, which still provides electricity today, using the Great Falls as an energy source.
In West Orange, Edison created the first technical research and development facility with his invention factory. Electric light, improved motion pictures, and sound recording, were among the hundreds of inventions produced here. [9]
The seven counties that are most commonly included in North Jersey have an estimated total population of 3,787,937 as of 2022; this rises to 4,357,752 with the inclusion of Union County. [10] As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the demographics of all the seven main counties combined are 66.8% White, 18.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% African American, 6.6% Asian, 0.2% Native American, and 0.1% Pacific Islander.
2017 Rank | Municipality | County | Population in 2017 | Population in 2010 | Municipal Type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Newark | Essex | 285,154 | 277,140 | City |
2 | Jersey City | Hudson | 270,753 | 247,597 | City |
3 | Paterson | Passaic | 148,678 | 146,199 | City |
4 | Clifton | Passaic | 86,607 | 84,136 | City |
5 | Passaic | Passaic | 71,247 | 69,781 | City |
6 | Union City | Hudson | 70,387 | 66,455 | City |
7 | Bayonne | Hudson | 67,186 | 63,024 | City |
8 | East Orange | Essex | 65,378 | 64,270 | City |
9 | North Bergen | Hudson | 63,659 | 60,773 | Township |
10 | Hoboken | Hudson | 55,131 | 50,005 | City |
11 | Wayne | Passaic | 55,072 | 54,717 | Township |
12 | Irvington | Essex | 54,865 | 53,926 | Township |
13 | West New York | Hudson | 54,227 | 49,708 | Town |
14 | Parsippany-Troy Hills | Morris | 53,201 | 53,238 | Township |
15 | Bloomfield | Essex | 50,970 | 47,315 | Township |
16 | West Orange | Essex | 48,425 | 46,207 | Township |
17 | Hackensack | Bergen | 45,248 | 43,010 | City |
18 | Kearny | Hudson | 42,670 | 40,648 | Town |
19 | Teaneck | Bergen | 41,311 | 39,776 | Township |
20 | Montclair | Essex | 39,227 | 37,669 | Township |
21 | Fort Lee | Bergen | 37,907 | 35,345 | Borough |
22 | Belleville | Essex | 36,498 | 35,926 | Township |
23 | Fair Lawn | Bergen | 33,710 | 32,457 | Borough |
24 | Garfield | Bergen | 32,393 | 30,487 | City |
25 | City of Orange | Essex | 30,813 | 30,134 | Township |
26 | Livingston | Essex | 30,142 | 29,366 | Township |
Rank | County | Population in 2022 | County seat | Area |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bergen | 952,997 | Hackensack | 234 sq mi (606 km2) |
2 | Essex | 849,477 | Newark | 126 sq mi (326 km2) |
3 | Hudson | 703,366 | Jersey City | 47 sq mi (122 km2) |
4 | Passaic | 513,936 | Paterson | 185 sq mi (479 km2) |
5 | Morris | 511,151 | Morristown | 469 sq mi (1,215 km2) |
6 | Sussex | 146,084 | Newton | 521 sq mi (1,349 km2) |
7 | Warren | 110,926 | Belvidere | 358 sq mi (927 km2) |
Sports allegiances are often divided between the northern and southern portions of the state. [2] The 2009 World Series divided the people of New Jersey, because South Jersey residents generally root for the Philadelphia Phillies, while North Jersey residents usually root for the New York Yankees or the New York Mets. A similar trend exists for most other major sports, with North Jersey residents supporting the Brooklyn Nets or the New York Knicks in basketball, the New Jersey Devils, or the New York Rangers in hockey, the New York Red Bulls or New York City FC in soccer, and the New York Giants or the New York Jets in football.
The former farming community already sees more retail sales than any other zip code in the country...More than $6 billion in retail sales happen in Paramus each year.
For one, NJ.com readers overwhelmingly agreed that Central Jersey does, in fact, exist. More than 50,000 of the votes received went toward categorizing Central Jersey towns, far outweighing those received for North and South Jersey.
New Jersey is a state situated within both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is the most densely populated of all 50 U.S. states, and is situated at the center of the Northeast megalopolis. New Jersey is bordered on its north and east 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 7,354 square miles (19,050 km2), New Jersey is the fifth-smallest state in land area, but with close to 9.3 million residents as of the 2020 United States census, its highest decennial count ever, it ranks 12th in population. The state capital is Trenton, and the state's most populous city is Newark. New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which every county is deemed urban by the U.S. Census Bureau with 13 counties included in the New York metropolitan area, seven counties in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and Warren County, part of the heavily industrialized Lehigh Valley metropolitan area.
Route 21 is a state highway in northern New Jersey, running 14.35 mi (23.09 km) from the Newark Airport Interchange with U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1-9) and US 22 in Newark, Essex County to an interchange with US 46 in Clifton, Passaic County. The route is a four- to six-lane divided highway known as McCarter Highway on its southern portion in Newark that serves as a connector between the Newark and Paterson areas, following the west bank of the Passaic River for much of its length. It also serves as the main north–south highway through the central part of Newark, connecting attractions in Downtown Newark with Newark Airport. The portion of Route 21 through Newark is a surface arterial that runs alongside the elevated Northeast Corridor rail line through the southern part of the city and continues north through Downtown Newark while the portion north of Downtown Newark is a freeway. Route 21 intersects many major roads including Interstate 78 (I-78), Route 27, and I-280 in Newark, Route 7 in Belleville, and Route 3 in Clifton.
Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-most populous county, with a population of 863,728, its highest decennial count since the 1970 census and an increase of 79,759 (+10.2%) from the 2010 census count of 783,969. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 955,732, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 50,616 (+5.6%) from the 905,116 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 20,998 (2.4%) from the 884,118 counted in the 2000 census. Located in the northeastern corner of New Jersey and its Gateway Region, Bergen County and its many inner suburbs constitute a highly developed part of the New York City metropolitan area, bordering the Hudson River; the George Washington Bridge, which crosses the Hudson, connects Bergen County with Manhattan. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Route 7 is a state highway in the northern part of New Jersey in the United States. It has two sections, an east–west alignment running from U.S. Route 1/9 Truck in Jersey City to Route 21 in Belleville, and a north–south alignment running from the Newark/Belleville to the Nutley/Clifton border. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) lists Route 7 as a single north–south highway with a small gap between the alignments. The entire highway has a combined length of 9.46 mi (15.22 km).
Scouting in New Jersey has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. The second Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters was in North Brunswick, although it was referred to in BSA publications as being in neighboring New Brunswick.
Area codes 201 and 551 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in the U.S. State of New Jersey. Area code 201 was the area code assigned to the entire state of New Jersey in 1947, when the North American area code system was formed. After splits in 1956, 1991, and 1997, it is assigned to the northeastern portion of the state, including most of Hudson and Bergen counties, bordering New York City. Major cities in the numbering plan area include Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Hackensack, Secaucus and Englewood. Area code 551 was added to this numbering plan area in 2001 in formation of an overlay. Area code 201 is also assigned for wireless services in some rate centers in the 973 and 908 numbering plan areas, such as Newark, Morristown, and New Brunswick.
For the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area extends North to Edgewater, South to Bayonne and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark. Many routes east of Newark are listed here.
The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey, and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch terminus in Piermont, New York, directly to Erie's primary terminal in Jersey City, initially Exchange Place, later Pavonia Terminal. In 1870 the line was extended to Nyack, New York, and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the Lackawanna Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna, ownership of the line passed into the hands of Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads.
Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs through Passaic, Bergen and Hudson Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, connects the city of Paterson and the Hudson River waterfront. It has largely been superseded by Route 3, but in the many towns it passes it has remained an important local thoroughfare, and in some cases been renamed.
The Newark Plank Road was a major artery between Hudson Waterfront at Paulus Hook and city of Newark further inland across the New Jersey Meadows. As its name suggests, a plank road was constructed of wooden planks laid side-to-side on a roadbed. Similar roads, the Bergen Point Plank Road, the Hackensack Plank Road and Paterson Plank Road, traveled to the locales for which they are named. The name is no longer used, the route having been absorbed into other streets and freeways.
The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
New Barbadoes Neck is the name given in the colonial era for the peninsula in northeastern New Jersey, US between the lower Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, in what is now western Hudson County and southern Bergen County. The neck begins in the south at Kearny Point in the Newark Bay and is characterized by a ridge along the west and part of the New Jersey Meadowlands on the east.
West Hudson is the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey comprising the contiguous municipalities of Kearny, Harrison and East Newark, which lies on the peninsula between the Hackensack River and Passaic River.
The Newark Branch was a branch of the Erie Railroad in New Jersey, United States, running between Jersey City and Paterson and passing through the Broadway Section in North Newark, the origin of its name. Inaugurated in the 1870s, the line was last used for passenger service on September 30, 1966, but continues to be used for freight service on a portion of its length.
The North Jersey Super Football Conference is a football-only athletic league of high schools in New Jersey. The 115-team league was formed in 2016.
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) is a regional wastewater public utility located in Newark, New Jersey. Established in 1902, PVSC provides sewage treatment services to 1.5 million people, consisting of 48 municipalities, in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union and Passaic Counties. The commission also provides environmental education programs to school districts in its service area. The largest cities are Newark, Jersey City, Bayonne, Union City, East Orange, Passaic, Paterson, Clifton, and the Township of North Bergen.