The US state of New Jersey is located in the east of the USA, on the Atlantic Ocean. It was named after the English Channel Island of Jersey. The nickname The Garden State comes from the many pretty gardens that can be found there. New Jersey borders New York to the north and northeast, and the US states of Pennsylvania and Delaware to the west across the Delaware river. New Jersey borders the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east.
The US state of New Jersey
La Corbiere New Jersey
In 2010, around 85,000 people lived in the capital Trenton, and there are almost 8.8 million citizens across the state who live in an area of just 22,587 km².
So very densely populated by American standards, in an area about half the size of the Netherlands.
The racial distribution looks something like this: 71% White, 15% Latino and the rest for other ethnic groups.
English is spoken by 71% of residents over the age of five. At least 29% speak another language. Of these 29%, which corresponds to around 2.35 million people, 50% speak Spanish, 3.7% Italian and 3.6% Portuguese, with the rest being divided into dozens of other languages.
Due to the proximity to New York in the north, there are many commuters who travel to the metropolis every day. Living within a 100km zone around New York is considerably more expensive, the rents far higher than further south in the state of New Jersey.
The biggest cities
The numbers behind the cities are the rounded population figures from the 2010 census.
- Newark 277.000
- Jersey City 248,000
- Paterson 146.000
- Elizabeth 125.000
- Trenton 85.000
Edison
Population: 99.967 thousand people (2010)
Area: 79.4 sq. km
Founded: 1651
Time zone: UTC-5, summer UTC-4
Altitude: 35 m
Edison is a city in central New Jersey, part of Middlesex County. In the 2000s, it was one of the thirty most livable places among medium-sized cities in the United States.
The Raritan Plain, on which central New Jersey lies, began to be settled in the 17th century. A settlement appeared on the site of Edison in 1651 under the name Piscataway. It grew around the parish of St. James among small farms. In 1870, the surrounding settlements were united under the common name Raritan (this is also the name of the river flowing through the territory of the city). In 1954, the city was renamed Edison, thus immortalizing one of its famous residents, the inventor Thomas Alva Edison.
Edison’s laboratory was located in the Menlo Park area in 1876-87. Today, the Thomas Edison Memorial Museum operates in the laboratory building. Also in the city there are several old buildings belonging to the historical heritage of the state: Laing Mansion (early 18th century), Benjamin Shotwell House (1775), Oak Ridge Farm Estate (1750). Edison has several water parks, and the Rutgers Ecological Preserve is located on the western edge of the city.
Climate and weather conditions
The climate in New Jersey belongs to the temperate continental zones. The summers are pleasant and nice and warm, some days feel a bit hot, but this is probably due to the humidity given by the Atlantic. Temperatures rarely rise above 30 degrees Celsius.
In winter it is quite cool and snow also likes to fall in the region. Snowstorms with the associated chaos on the streets are part of the winter weather almost every year. Rain can happen all year round, in winter when temperatures are below zero it becomes snow or freezing rain.
If one can give a recommendation as the best time to travel to New Jersey, it would probably be from May to the end of September. Especially in May, the many gardens in the country are of course in full bloom and it is a lot of fun to drive through the state.