New Jersey Facts, Map and State Symbols

New Jersey was the 3rd state in the USA; it became a state on December 18, 1787.

State Abbreviation - NJ

State Capital - Trenton

Largest City - Newark

Area - 8,722 square miles [New Jersey is the 47th biggest state in the USA]

Population - 8,414,350 (as of 2000) [New Jersey is the ninth most populous state in the USA]

Name for Residents - New Jerseyites or New Jerseyans

Major Industries - farming (potatoes, tomatoes, peaches), chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum-based products, insurance, tourism 

 

Presidential Birthplace - Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell on March 18, 1837 (he was the 22nd and 24th US President, from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897). 

 

Major Rivers - Delaware River, Hudson River

Highest Point - High Point - 1,803 feet (550 m) above sea level (located in the northernmost part of New Jersey)

Number of Counties - 21

Bordering States - New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware

Bordering Body of Water - Atlantic Ocean

 

 

Origin of the Name New Jersey - New Jersey was named by James, Duke of York (the brother of King Charles II of England), who was given New Jersey by his brother. James later gave New Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. James named the colony New Jersey to honor Carteret, who had been the Governor of Jersey, a British island in the English Channel.

State Nickname - Garden State

State Motto - "Liberty and Prosperity"

State Song - none

 

Dinosaur Fossils Found in New Jersey - Coelurosaurus, Diplotomodon, Dryptosaurus, Hadrosaurus foulkii, Nodosaurus, Ornithotarsus 


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