New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is the fourth smallest, tenth most populous and is the most densely populated of the fifty states of the United States. The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.
Absecon Asbury Park Atlantic City Atlantic Highlands Avalon Avenel Basking Ridge Bellmawr Berlin Bernardsville Blackwood Bordentown Bridgewater Brigantine Brooklawn Budd Lake Buena Burlington Cape May Carlstadt Carneys Point Carteret Cherry Hill Cinnaminson Clark Clifton Colts Neck Columbia Cookstown Cranbury Cranford Dayton Denville Deptford East Brunswick East Hanover East Orange East Rutherford East Windsor Eatontown Edgewater Edison Egg Harbor Township Elizabeth Elmwood Park Englewood Ewing Fair Lawn Fairfield Farmingdale Flemington Florham Park Fords Fort Lee Franklin Freehold Frenchtown Gloucester City Hackensack Hackettstown Haddonfield Hammonton Harrison Hasbrouck Heights Hazlet Hillsborough Irvington Iselin Jersey City Kenilworth Lakewood Lawrenceville Lebanon Ledgewood Linden Livingston Long Branch Lyndhurst Mahwah Manchester Township Maple Shade Marmora Middletown Millville Monmouth Junction Montvale Morris Plains Morristown Mount Arlington Mount Holly Mount Laurel Neptune City New Brunswick New Providence Newark Newton North Bergen North Brunswick North Plainfield North Wildwood Ocean City Paramus Park Ridge Parsippany Paterson Penns Grove Pennsville Pine Brook Piscataway Plainsboro Pleasantville Point Pleasant Beach Princeton Rahway Ramsey Raritan Red Bank Ridgefield Ridgefield Park Rochelle Park Rockaway Runnemede Rutherford Saddle Brook Saddle River Sea Girt Seaside Heights Seaside Park Secaucus Short Hills Somers Point Somerset South Hackensack South Plainfield Spray Beach Springfield Summit Swedesboro Teaneck Tenafly Thorofare Tinton Falls Toms River Totowa Trenton Ventnor City Vernon Vineland Voorhees Wall Township Warren Wayne Weehawken West Atlantic City West Orange Westfield Whippany Whitehouse Station Wildwood Wildwood Crest Williamstown Woodbridge Woodcliff Lake Wrightstown
It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania. Parts of New Jersey lie within the metropolitan areas of New York, Philadelphia, and the Delaware Valley.
New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south and southwest by Delaware; and on the west by Pennsylvania. The western border of New Jersey is largely defined by the Delaware River. Because of its dense population and because most communities of northern New Jersey do not have the widespread reservoir system of neighboring Greater New York City, the slightest dry season leads to drought warnings; but because there are many streams and rivers close to these communities, the slightest above average rainfall causes frequent flooding as many parts of Northern New Jersey is part of a flood plain. It is also at the center of a the Boston to Washington megalopolis.
New Jersey is broadly divided into three geographic regions: North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. North Jersey lies within New York City's general sphere of influence largely within the New York metropolitan area, in which reside many residents commuting to the city to work. Central Jersey is a largely suburban area. South Jersey is within Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's general sphere of influence, and most of it is included in the Delaware Valley. Such geographic definitions are loosely defined, however, and there is often dispute over where one region begins and another ends. Some people do not consider Central Jersey to exist at all, but most believe it is a separate geographic and cultural area from the North and South.
Roadways The New Jersey Turnpike is one of the best-known and most-trafficked 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 its numerous rest-areas named after prominent New Jerseyans as diverse as inventor Thomas Edison; United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton; United States Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson; writers James Fenimore 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 in-state traffic and runs from the town of Montvale along New Jersey's northern border to its southernmost tip at Cape May for 172.4 miles. It is the trunk that connects the New York metropolitan area to Atlantic City.
Other expressways in New Jersey include the Atlantic City Expressway, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, Interstate 76, Interstate 78, Interstate 80, Interstate 195, Interstate 280, Interstate 287, and Interstate 295.
New Jersey has interstate compacts with all three neighboring states. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Delaware River Port Authority (with Pennsylvania), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority (with Delaware) operate most of the major transportation routes into and out of New Jersey. Bridge tolls are collected in one direction only — it is free to cross into New Jersey, but motorists must pay when exiting the state. The Washington Crossing and Scudders Falls (on I-95) bridges near Trenton, as well as Trenton's Calhoun Street and Bridge Street ("Trenton Makes") bridges, are toll-free.
Airports - Newark Liberty International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the United 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 International Airport and LaGuardia Airport), it is one of the main airports serving 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 hubs. United Airlines and FedEx operate cargo hubs. The adjacent Newark Airport railroad station provides access to the trains of Amtrak and New Jersey Transit along the Northeast Corridor Line.
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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 corporate aircraft, due to its proximity to New York City.
Rail and bus - The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates extensive rail and bus service throughout the state. NJ Transit is a state-run corporation that began with the consolidation of several private bus companies in North Jersey. In the early 1980s, it acquired the commuter train operations of Conrail that connect towns in northern and central New Jersey to New York 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 extended it to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1990s. This is the only mass transit line that is based entirely in South Jersey, and the only one that connects Philadelphia and Atlantic City.
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NJ Transit also operates three light rail systems in the state. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail connects Bayonne to North Bergen, with planned expansion into Bergen County communities. The Newark City Subway is the only subway system in the state. Its Main Line connects Newark Penn Station with Grove St. station in Bloomfield. The Broad Street Line of the subway, the first component of the Newark-Elizabeth 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 that connect various points of North Jersey and New York. The lines all start in either Hudson County or Essex County, New Jersey and end either at the World Trade Center station or at 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan.
Amtrak also operates numerous long-distance passenger trains in New Jersey to and from neighboring states and around the country. In addition to the Newark Airport 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 at 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 operate with state funding to offset losses and state owned buses are provided to these carriers of which Coach USA companies make up the bulk.
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Through both World Wars, New Jersey was a center for war production, especially in naval construction. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers were all made in this state. In addition, Camp Kilmer, Fort Dix (originally called "Camp Dix"), and Camp Merritt were all constructed to help American soldiers through both World Wars. New Jersey also became a principal location for defense in the Cold War. Fourteen Nike Missile stations were constructed, especially for the defense of New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PT-109, commanded by Lt.(jg) John F. Kennedy, was built at the Elco Boatworks in Bayonne, and the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV-6) was briefly docked at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne in the 1950s before she was sent to Japan to be scrapped.
New Jersey became a prosperous state through the Roaring Twenties but fell in prosperity 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. During this time period, the zeppelin Hindenburg went up in flames over Lakehurst.
In the 1960s, several race riots sprang up in New Jersey, the first of which occurred 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."
* New Jersey has a temperate climate, with warm/hot summers and cool/cold winters. During the hurricane season, tropical cyclones sometimes hit New Jersey. During the winter months, Nor-easters can dump up on average, two to three feet of snow at once.
Average high temperature in New Jersey are:
* 30 to 40 in January/February * 50 to 60 in March * 60 to 70 in April * 70 to 80 in May/June * 80 to 90 in July/August * 70 to 80 in September * 60 to 70 in October * 50 to 60 in November * 40 to 50 in December
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* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
