New Jersey is a state located in both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern areas of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the heavily urbanized Northeast megalopolis, it is surrounded to the northwest, north, and northeast by New York State; on its eastern, southeast, and southern 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 Jacket is the fifth-smallest state in acreage. According to a 2024 U. S. Census Bureau price quote, it is the 11th-most heavily populated state, with over 9. 5 million citizens, its highest approximated matter ever. The state funding is Trenton, and the state's most heavily populated city is Newark. New Jacket is the only U. S. state in which every region is deemed urban by the U. S. Demographics Bureau. It is the most largely populated U. S. state. New Jersey was first populated by Paleo-Indians as early as 13,000 BC. The Lenape were the dominant Aboriginal group when Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, and they were partitioned into dialectal teams such as the Munsee, in the north, and the Unami and the Unalachtigo, elsewhere. Dutch and Swedish colonists founded the very first European settlements in the state, with the British later taking control of the area and establishing the Province of New Jersey, called after the Network Island of Jersey. The swarm's fertile lands and loved one religious resistance attracted a large and varied populace. New Jersey was among the Thirteen Swarms that sustained the American Revolution, organizing several essential battles and armed forces commands in the American War of independence making the title, "Crossroads of the American Revolution." New Jersey stayed in the Union during the American Civil Battle and provided troops, sources, and armed forces leaders on behalf of the Union Military. After the war, the state became a significant manufacturing center and a leading destination for immigrants, assisting drive the Industrial Change in the U. S. New Jacket was the site of numerous commercial, technical, and commercial technologies. Numerous noticeable Americans related to New Jersey have verified significant across the country and internationally, including in academic community, advocacy, organization, entertainment, federal government, military, charitable leadership, and other fields. New Jacket's main location in the Northeast megalopolis assisted fuel its rapid development and suburbanization in the second half of the 20th century. Because the beginning of the 21st century, the state's economy has become extremely diversified, with significant markets, consisting of New Jacket's duty as the globe's biggest pharmaceutical industry center—-- as well as biotechnology, information technology, financing, electronic media, filmmaking, and tourism, and it has actually ended up being an Atlantic seaboard epicenter for logistics and distribution. New Jersey is a significant destination for immigrants and is home to one of the globe's most modern populations. Echoing historic fads, the state has increasingly re-urbanized, with growth in cities exceeding residential areas considering that 2008. New Jersey is one of the most affluent, educated, varied, healthy, and extremely created states in the U. S., ranking high amongst states in several lifestyle metrics. New Jacket had a median home income of $99,781 as of 2023, the second-highest of any kind of U. S. state behind Massachusetts.Practically one-tenth of all households in the state, or over 323,000, are millionaires, the highest representation of millionaires among all states. New Jacket's public school system continually ranks at or among the top of all U. S. states. Since 2024, a quarter of the state population is international birthed, the second most after The golden state. In 2025, New Jacket was rated as having the healthiest state populace generally. The state rates near the top on both the American Person Growth Index and the basic Human Development Index. Subsequently, New Jacket is typically rated as one of the most effective U. S. states, as well as among the most costly states for citizens to reside in. According to meteorology research by the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Jacket has been the fastest-warming state by average air temperature level over a 100-year duration beginning in the very early 20th century, which has actually been attributed to warming of the North Atlantic Ocean.