Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Jersey City, New Jersey

Jersey City, New Jersey

right Jersey City is a city located in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 240,055, making it New Jersey's second-largest city, trailing Newark. It is the county seat of Hudson County. Jersey City lies on the west bank of the Hudson River across from New York City, and is part of the New York metropolitan area. The second largest city in the state and a commercial and industrial center surpassed only by Newark, it is a port of entry and a manufacturing center. With 11 miles (17.7 km) of waterfront and significant rail connections, Jersey City is an important transportation terminus and distribution center. It has railroad shops, oil refineries, warehouses, and plants that manufacture a diverse assortment of products, such as chemicals, petroleum and electrical goods, textiles, and cosmetics. The city has benefited from its position across the Hudson River from the island of Manhattan, and many Jersey City companies are extensions of businesses headquartered there. Further developments have included increased housing and shopping areas; other parts of the city, however, remain run-down after years of commercial inactivity. Jersey City is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in the country, with an almost equal mix of non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Asians, and Latinos. Of all US cities, it has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations and proportions, one of the largest Asian proportions, and one of the largest proportions of various Latino and Hispanic ethnicities outside the southwest. It also has higher-than-average numbers of Jews, Italians, Cubans, Filipinos, Indians, and Irish than most cities in the nation. Irish Irish, completed in 2004 is in the center of the picture.]]

History

The land comprising what is now known as Jersey City was wilderness inhabited by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans in 1609 when Henry Hudson, seeking an alternate route to East Asia and failing in that mission, anchored his small vessel in Sandy Hook. After spending nine days surveying the area and meeting its inhabitants, he returned to Holland. The Dutch organized the United New Netherlands Company to manage this new territory and named it New Netherlands. In June of 1623, New Netherlands became a Dutch province. Soon after, Michael Reyniersz Pauw, Lord of Achtienhoven, a burgemeester of Amsterdam and a director of the West India Company, received a grant as patroon on the condition that he would plant a colony in New Netherlands of not fewer than fifty persons, within four years. He chose the west bank of the Hudson River and purchased the land from the Indians. This land grant is dated November 22, 1630 and is the earliest known conveyance for what are now Hoboken and Jersey City. However, Michael Pauw neglected to settle on his lands and was obliged to sell his holdings back to the Company in 1633 [http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/P_Pages/Pavonia.htm]. The first settlement was at Communipaw, an area adjacent to present-day Liberty State Park. A house was built here in 1633 for Jan Evertsen Bout, superintendent of the colony, which was then called Pavonia (the Latinized form of Pauw's name) [http://www.nnp.org/newvtour/regions/Hudson/pavonia.html]. Shortly after, another house was built at Harsimus Cove (near the present-day corner of Fourth Street and Marin Boulevard). This second house became the home of Cornelius Van Vorst, who succeeded Bout as superintendent. These were the first two houses in Jersey City. Relations with the Lenni Lenape deteriorated, and war parties virtually destroyed the settlement of Pavonia in 1643 and again in 1655. 1655 Scattered communities of farmsteads characterized the Dutch settlements in what would become Jersey City: Pavonia, Communipaw, Harsimus, Paulus Hook and to the north, Bergen Township, later the town of Hudson, and incorporated into Jersey City in 1870 [http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/vanvorstfarmhouse.shtml]. The first Jersey City village settlement was Bergen Township, established on what is now Bergen Square in 1660. The oldest surviving house in Jersey City is the stone Van Vorst house of 1742. During the American Revolution the town was in the hands of the British who controlled New York, until Paulus Hook was captured by Major Light Horse Harry Lee on August 19, 1779. Jersey City was incorporated as The City of Jersey in 1820, and reincorporated under its present name in 1838. Jersey City was a dock and manufacturing town for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Much like New York City, Jersey City has always been a landing pad for new immigrants to the United States. In its heyday before World War II, German, Irish, and Italian immigrants found work at Colgate, Chloro, or Dixon Ticonderoga. However, the largest employers at the time were the railroads, whose national networks dead-ended on the Hudson River. The most significant railroad for Jersey City was the Pennsylvania Railroad Company whose eastern terminus was in the Downtown area until 1911, when the company built the first tunnel under the river to Penn Station, New York. Before that time, Pennsy rail passengers transferred in Jersey City to ferries headed to Manhattan or to trolleys that fanned out through Hudson County and beyond. The last streetcar was decommissioned in 1949 and today, no passenger heavy rail travels through Jersey City. From 1917 to 1947, Jersey City was ruled by Mayor Frank Hague. The [http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/hague/index.shtml Jersey City History Web Site] states that "His name is synonymous with the early 20th century urban American blend of political favoritism and social welfare known as bossism." [http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/hague/kinghankypanky/index.shtml "Hanky-Panky,"] as he was known then, ruled the city with an iron fist while, at the same time, molding governors, United States senators, and judges to his whims. He was known to be loud and vulgar, and would often dismiss his enemies as "reds" or "commies." Citizens of Jersey City dared not speak out against him for fear of being harassed by Hague's police or being ostracized or publicly embarrassed in some way. Remarkably, Hague lived like a millionaire, despite having an average annual salary of $8,000. He was able to maintain a fourteen-room duplex apartment in Jersey City, a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, and a palatial summer home in Deal, New Jersey, and he traveled to Europe yearly in the royal suites of the best liners. Europe in Jersey City. Many people were evacuated by ferry to Jersey City in the wake of the attacks.]] The city developed a reputation for corruption, even after Hague left office. By the 1970s, it was caught up in a wave of urban decline that saw many of its wealthy residents fleeing to the suburbs, and led to an influx of working class citizens scarred by rising crime, civil unrest, political corruption, and economic hardship. From 1950 to 1980, Jersey City lost 75,000 residents, and from 1975 to 1982, it lost 5,000 jobs, or 9 percent of its workforce. [http://www.jcedc.org/timehascome.html] The city experienced a surge of violent crime during this period. New immigrants sought refuge in Jersey City because of its low housing costs, despite the decline in many of its neighborhoods due to decay, abandonment, or neglect. However, the city has recently been undergoing a renaissance. Many formerly abandoned buildings are being renovated, and the light rail line from Weehawken through Hoboken extends through eastern Jersey City, with branches to the western reaches of the city and south to Bayonne. As the waterfront continues to grow, Jersey City's downtown neighborhoods are experiencing rapid gentrification as professionals working in Manhattan are beginning to move in. The downtown area has a significant number of Victorian brownstones, and at prices that are far lower than one would find, for a similar home, in Manhattan, or even Brooklyn. Also, many financial corporations including Goldman Sachs, Chase Manhattan Bank, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and the investment firm Charles Schwab have relocated from New York City to Jersey City or expanded their offices in Jersey City since the September 11, 2001 attacks. It is projected that Jersey City will pass Newark as New Jersey's largest city by 2010.

Government

Local government

Jersey City is currently governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government. The current mayor of Jersey City is Jerramiah Healy. Members of the City Council are Mariano Vega, Jr., Council President; Willie Flood, Councilwoman-at-Large; Peter Brennan, Councilman-at-Large; Michael Sottolano, Ward A Councilman; Mary Spinello, Ward B Councilwoman; Steve Lipski, Ward C Councilman; William Gaughan, Ward D Councilman; Steven Fulop, Ward E Councilman; and Viola Richardson, Ward F Councilwoman.

Federal, state and county representation

Jersey City is in the Ninth, Tenth and Thirteenth Congressional Districts and is part of New Jersey's 31st, 32nd and 33rd Legislative Districts.

Education

Jersey City is home to the New Jersey City University (NJCU) and Saint Peter's College, both of which are located in the city's West Side district. It is also home to the Hudson County Community College, which is located in Journal Square. Dr. Ronald E. Mc Nair Academic High School [http://www.jcboe.org/mcnhs/], the most recently founded public school in Jersey City, was previously ranked as the top high school in New Jersey according to New Jersey Monthly magazine. In contrast, William L. Dickinson High School, located near Jersey City's downtown area, is the oldest high school in the city. It is also one of the largest schools in Hudson County, in terms of student population. Opened in 1906 as the Jersey City High School, it is one of the oldest sites in Jersey City. It is a three-story Beaux-Arts structure located on a hilltop facing the Hudson River. Other public high schools in Jersey City are James J. Ferris High School, the Hudson County Schools of Technology (which also has campuses in North Bergen and Secaucus), Liberty High School, Lincoln High School and Henry Snyder High School. St. Peters Preparatory School [http://www.stpetersprep.org/] is a private high school founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus. With an average enrollment of just under 1,000, the school is an "independent college preparatory school for young men." Other private high schools in jersey City include Academy of Saint Aloysius, Hudson Catholic Regional High School, Kenmare High School for Women, St. Anthony High School, St. Dominic Academy and St. Mary High School.

Neighborhoods

Jersey City is a city of neighborhoods, each with a different aesthetic and architectural style, to some degree. Downtown Jersey City includes the Waterfront (including Newport, Paulus Hook, and Exchange Place), Hamilton Park, Grove Street, Harsimus Cove, and Van Vorst Park. Neighborhoods farther from downtown include Liberty State Park, Jersey City Heights (or, simply, "The Heights"), Western Slope, Journal Square, West Bergen / Lincoln Park, West Side, Bergen, Greenville, Lafayette and Marion. These designations are unofficial and, to some degree, subjective.

Downtown Jersey City

Downtown Jersey City is the area from the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 78) and the New Jersey Palisades east to the Hudson River, bounded by Hoboken to the north and Liberty State Park to the south. Newport and Exchange Place are the redeveloped waterfront areas comprised mostly of residential towers, hotels and office buildings. Newport is a planned mixed-use community, built on the old Erie Lackawanna railyards, made up of residential rental towers, condominiums, office buildings, a marina, schools, restaurants, hotels, Newport Centre Mall, waterfront walkway, transportation facilities, and on-site parking for more than 15,000 vehicles. Newport had a significant hand in the renaissance of Jersey City and successfully converted abandoned railyards and brownfields into a thriving community. However, some critics have derided the Newport development, which is cut off from the rest of Jersey City by the Newport Centre Mall and other big box retail, for its lack of connections to surrounding areas. Additionally, some consider Newport to be very "suburban" in nature and unlike the rest of Jersey City. Exchange Place, the first part of Jersey City to redevelop, was built on the grounds of the old Jersey City Penn Station, ferry and shipping terminals. It is now a bustling business and financial district. To the west lay three brownstone neighborhoods with "historic" protected districts — Hamilton Park, Van Vorst Park, and Harsimus Cove — separated from the waterfront by a legacy of older infrastructure, big-box development, and old warehouses still awaiting re-use. Paulus Hook is another neighborhood with a historic designated zone that borders Exchange Place and Liberty State Park on the waterfront, and blends older brownstone streets with newer luxury developments.

Other neighborhoods

The [http://www.getnj.com/jerseycity/heights.shtml Jersey City Heights] is a neighborhood atop the Palisades overlooking Hoboken. [http://www.jcheights.com/index.html Central Avenue] is its primary commercial strip, with residential districts flanking the street on both sides. The Heights area is comprised mostly of two- and three-family houses, and remains traditionally middle-class. Six blocks to the east, and parallel to Central Avenue, are Palisade and Ogden Avenues, both of which offer breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline. Many stately Victorian and Edwardian homes contribute to the attractiveness of the Heights, particularly along Summit Avenue and Sherman Place. Parts of this neighborhood are experiencing gentrification, largely due to the relative affordability of housing and the variety of transportation options, including the recently installed "light rail elevator" at Congress Street that connects to the Ninth Street station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. The "Western Slope" area is on the back side of the Heights facing away from Manhattan and overlooking the marshes of the Meadowlands. Once the commercial heart of Jersey City, Journal Square has become rather derelict in recent years, but is in the process of rehabilitation, in part because of the efforts of the Journal Square Restoration Corporation (JSRC) and the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC). Here, Kennedy Boulevard and Bergen Avenue, main thoroughfares in the city, are at their widest, lined on both sides by brick houses and medium-density apartment complexes. The Stanley Theater and Loews Theatre on Kennedy Boulevard are among the city's most noted landmarks, and two of the best preserved movie palaces in the Tri-State area. Directly across Kennedy Boulevard from the Loews is the Journal Square Transportation Center (JSTC), which houses the Journal Square PATH railway station and the city's largest bus terminal. Buses from the JSTC connect Jersey City to communities throughout Hudson County, as well as Manhattan. Saint Peter's College is located about 10 blocks south of Journal Square. The West Bergen/Lincoln Park area is the area south of Montgomery Street and north of Communipaw Avenue, from Bergen Avenue on the east to West Side Avenue on the west. These neighborhoods are dominated by detached single-family houses with some of the best preserved Victorian and early 20th Century mansions in the city. Lincoln Park, one of the largest parks in the area, is a county park which includes recreational facilities (tennis, track, athletic fields, golf range, biking, running) and picnicing areas. Jersey City's West Side is very ethnically diverse. Many ethnic grocery shops (Filipino, Indian, West Indian) line West Side Avenue. It runs from west of Broadway near Route 440 to Danforth Avenue. The Greenville section runs from about 10 blocks south of Communipaw Avenue to the Bayonne City Line. It includes some of the most depressed areas in the city, but is slowly being revitalized, particularly along the light rail line. The crime rate is higher here than in any other part of Jersey City and many streets are lined with abandoned homes, but municipal aid over the past few years has helped in rebuilding many of them and in bringing life back to many of Greenville's neglected streets. Port Liberté used to be one of the many ports on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. It was filled with industrial buildings until 1990 when developers began to transform the neighborhood into an upscale residential complex. It was not a smooth ride, but Port Liberté has emerged from bankcrupcy to become Venice on the Hudson. The only golf course ([http://www.libertynationalgc.com/ Liberty National Golf Course]) that is within a 15 minute ride from Manhattan is scheduled to open here in the summer of 2006.

Geography

1990 According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 54.7 km² (21.1 mi²). 38.6 km² (14.9 mi²) of it is land and 16.1 km² (6.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 29.37% water. Jersey City is bordered to the east by the Hudson River, to the north by Union City and Hoboken, to the west by Kearny and Newark, and to the south by Bayonne.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 240,055 people, 88,632 households, and 55,660 families residing in the city. The population density is 6,212.2/km² (16,093.7/mi²). There are 93,648 housing units at an average density of 2,423.4/km² (6,278.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 34.01% White, 28.32% African American, 0.45% Native American, 16.20% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 15.11% from other races, and 5.84% from two or more races. 28.31% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of all households, 31.1% have children under the age of 18 living there, 36.4% are married couples living together, 20.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% are non-families. 29.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.37. The age distribution is spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 35.1% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.6 males. The median income of its households is $37,862, and the median income of its families is $41,639. Males have a median income of $35,119 versus $30,494 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,410. 18.6% of the population and 16.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 27.0% of those under the age of 18 and 17.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Transportation

Jersey City is served by a number of highways including the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 78, U.S. Highways 1 and 9, and New Jersey Routes 139 and 440. The Holland Tunnel, which carries Interstate 78, connects Jersey City to Manhattan. The city is also well served by public transportation. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which connects Bayonne to Weehawken, has 13 stations in Jersey City. The PATH system, connecting to Newark and Manhattan, has four stations in Jersey City: Exchange Place, Pavonia-Newport, Grove Street, and Journal Square. Finally, ferry lines operate between Jersey City (Newport, Liberty Harbor, Harborside, Colgate, Port Liberté) and Manhattan (Midtown, the World Financial Center, and Pier 11). Ferries are operated by NY Waterway.

Facts

NY Waterway
- The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island and it's address is 1 Communipaw Avenue, Jersey City, though the statue is maintained by the National Park Service. Likewise, Ellis Island is inside Jersey City's borders, but is managed jointly by the states of New Jersey and New York. The body of water that surrounds both islands is known as New York Harbor.
- The Colgate Clock, promoted by Colgate as the largest in the world, sits in Jersey City and faces Lower New York Bay and Lower Manhattan (it is clearly visible from Battery Park in lower Manhattan). The clock, which is 50 feet in diameter with a minute hand weighing 2,200 pounds, was erected in 1924 to replace a smaller one.
- The tallest building in New Jersey is Jersey City's Goldman Sachs Tower, which was completed in 2004. Other notable buildings in Jersey City include 101 Hudson Street, the Newport Tower, and the Exchange Place Centre.
- In 1916, German agents set off a series of explosions in present-day Liberty State Park in what came to be known as the Black Tom Explosion.
- Part of the 1993 Saturday Night Live spin-off movie Coneheads was filmed in Jersey City. The character of "Beldar Conehead", portrayed by Dan Aykroyd, worked in the town as an appliance repairman shortly after his spaceship crash-landed on Earth and lived in a trailer just outside the shop. His boss, Otto, was portrayed by Sinbad, and actor-comedian Eddie Griffin played a customer.

External links


- [http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/ City of Jersey City]
- [http://www.jcedc.org/ Jersey City Economic Development Corporation]
- [http://www.jerseycitymuseum.org/ Jersey City Museum]
- [http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/entries.htm Jersey City: Past and Present]
- [http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/jclandmarks.html Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy]
- [http://history.rays-place.com/nj/jersey-city-nj.htm History of Jersey City]
- [http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/ Jersey City History]
- [http://www.lincolnparktour.com/ Lincoln Park Neighborhood]
- [http://jclist.com/ Jersey City List] Category:Cities in New Jersey Category:Faulkner Act Category:New Jersey District Factor Group B Category:Hudson County, New Jersey Category:Jersey City, New Jersey Category:New York metropolitan area

Hudson County, New Jersey

Hudson County is a county located in the state of New Jersey. As of 2000, the population is 608,975. Its county seat is Jersey City6. Hudson County lies several hundred feet from the western shore of Ellis and Liberty Islands,¹ and has always been a gateway for many immigrants to the United States. It is also recognized as one of the Northeast's major transportation and industrial hubs.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 162 km² (62 mi²). 121 km² (47 mi²) of it is land and 41 km² (16 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 25.21% water. The county's topography is marked by a sharp ridge that rises along the Hudson in the northern part of the county, the southern extension of The Palisades. It gradually levels off to the west. The southern peninsula of the county is coastal and flat; the western region, between the Passaic and Hackensack rivers is largely marshland. The highest point is along the ridge, two points, one in Guttenberg and the other in West New York, that top out at 260 feet (79 m) above sea level; the lowest point is sea level itself along the rivers. Hudson County is the smallest of New Jersey's 21 counties.

Demographics

marshland. The Goldman Sachs Tower, completed in 2004 is in the center of the picture.]] Hudson County is one of America's most ethnically diverse counties. Perhaps most notable are its heavy Cuban communities. It also features substancial Black and Asian populations, while still retaining a strong Caucasian prescense. It also has a very heavy amount of intermarriage from other races, resulting in a higher percentage of people of two or more races. As of the census2 of 2000, there are 608,975 people, 230,546 households, and 143,630 families residing in the county. The population density is 5,036/km² (13,044/mi²). There are 240,618 housing units at an average density of 1,990/km² (5,154/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 55.58% White, 13.48% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 9.35% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 15.48% from other races, and 5.63% from two or more races. 39.76% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 230,546 households out of which 29.60% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.80% are married couples living together, 16.60% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.70% are non-families. 29.50% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.60% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.60 and the average family size is 3.27. In the county the population is spread out with 22.60% under the age of 18, 10.40% from 18 to 24, 35.60% from 25 to 44, 20.00% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 94.20 males. The median income for a household in the county is $40,293, and the median income for a family is $44,053. Males have a median income of $36,174 versus $31,037 for females. The per capita income for the county is $21,154. 15.50% of the population and 13.30% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 22.00% of those under the age of 18 and 15.70% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the state.

Government

Hudson County's County Executive is Thomas A. DeGise. The County Executive is elected by a direct vote of the electorate. The executive, together with the Board of Chosen Freeholders in a legislative role, administer all county business. Nine members are elected concurrently to serve three-year terms as Freeholder, each representing a specified district which are equally proportioned based of population. The Freeholder's terms of office expire on December 31, 2005. Each year, in January, the Freeholders select one of their nine to serve as Chair and one as Vice Chair for a period of one year. Hudson County's Freeholders are:
- Freeholder District 1: Barry Dugan - Freeholder Vice Chair
- Freeholder District 2: William O'Dea
- Freeholder District 3: Jeffrey Dublin
- Freeholder District 4: Radames Velazquez Jr.
- Freeholder District 5: Maurice Fitzgibbons
- Freeholder District 6: Tilo Rivas
- Freeholder District 7: Silverio Vega - Freeholder Chair
- Freeholder District 8: Thomas Liggio
- Freeholder District 9: Albert Cifelli

Transportation

Hudson County is well-served by an extensive road and freeway network, connecting the county's communities to the rest of New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area. Indeed, an estimated one million commuters travel through Hudson County daily. Major highways include the New Jersey Routes 3, 7, 139, 185, 440, 495, Interstate 78, Interstate 95 (the New Jersey Turnpike), Interstate 280, and U.S. Highways 1 and 9. The Pulaski Skyway connects Jersey City with neighboring Newark. Automobile access to New York City is available through the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects Weehawken to midtown Manhattan, the Holland Tunnel, which connects Jersey City to lower Manhattan, and the Bayonne Bridge, which connects Bayonne to Staten Island. The county is served by an extensive mass transit infrastructure. The PATH system provides an alternate means of transportation into Manhattan, and serves much of Jersey City and Hoboken. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Weehawken, and provides connections to the PATH and the New Jersey Transit commuter rail system. The Hoboken Terminal is a major hub of train, bus, and ferry activity. Buses, run both by New Jersey Transit and private companies, provide service throughout much of the densely populated county. The New York metropolitan area's three major airports -- John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport -- are within a relatively short distance of Hudson County. Newark Liberty, however, is the closest.

Cities and towns

Newark Liberty International Airport
- Bayonne
- East Newark
- Guttenberg
- Harrison
- Hoboken
- Jersey City
- Kearny
- North Bergen
- Secaucus
- Union City
- Weehawken
- West New York

Facts


- The tallest building in Hudson County is the Goldman Sachs Tower in Jersey City. It is also the tallest building in New Jersey, and the 46th tallest building in the United States.

Footnotes

#Both Ellis and Liberty Islands lie entirely within Hudson County's waters, which extend to the New York state line at the middle of the Hudson River. Liberty Island is wholly part of New York. Ellis Island is jointly administered by the states of New Jersey and New York. Nine-tenths of its land is technically part of Hudson County, with the remainder being part of New York. (See Ellis Island and Liberty Island for further explanation.)

External link


- [http://www.hudsoncountynj.org/ Hudson County Government] Category:Hudson County, New Jersey Category:New Jersey counties Category:New York metropolitan area

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

United States 2000 Census

The United States Census of year 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census. This was the twenty second federal census and the largest peacetime effort in the history of the United States. The U.S. resident population includes the total number of people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; its population was 3,808,610, an 8.1 percent increase over the number from a decade earlier.

Population profile

In an introduction to a more detailed population profile (see references below), the Census Bureau highlighted the following facts about U.S population dynamics:
- 75.1 percent of respondents said they were White and no other race;
- Hispanics - who may belong to any race - accounted for 12.5 percent of the U.S. population, up from 9 percent in 1990;
- Between 1990 and 2000, the population aged 45 to 54 grew by 49 percent and those aged 85 and older grew 38 percent;
- Women outnumber men two to one among those aged 85 and older;
- Almost one in five adults had some type of disability in 1997 and the likelihood of having a disability increased with age;
- Families (as opposed to men or women living alone) still dominate American households, but less so than they did thirty years ago;
- Since 1993, both families and nonfamilies have seen median household incomes rise, with "households headed by a woman without a spouse present" growing the fastest;
- People in married-couple families have the lowest poverty rates;
- The poor of any age are more likely than others to lack health insurance coverage;
- The number of elementary and high school students in 2000 fell just short of the all-time high of 49 million reached in 1970;
- Improvements in educational attainment cross racial and ethnic lines; and
- The majority (51%) of U.S. households have access to computers; 41% have Internet access.

Population breakdown

The most-populous state in the country was California (33,871,648); the least populous was Wyoming (493,782). The state that gained the most numerically since the 1990 census was California, up 4,111,627. Nevada had the highest percentage growth in population, climbing 66.3 percent (796,424 people) since 1990.

Changes in population

Regionally, the South and West picked up the bulk of the nation's population increase, 14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. This meant that the mean center of U.S. population moved to Phelps County, Missouri. The Northeast grew by 2,785,149; the Midwest, by 4,724,144. Image:2000-census-percent-change.jpg Image:2000-census-numeric-change.jpg

Languages spoken at home

The Modern Language Association provides a website with overviews and detailed data about the locations and numbers of speakers of thirty languages and seven groups of less commonly spoken languages in the United States. Languages other than English are spoken at home by 46,951,595 respondents or 17.88% of people who are at least five years old. Below are the top languages spoken at home. Percentage is with respect to the number of people reported language other than English. Languages that contribute over 1% are listed. #Spanish or Spanish Creole (59.85%) #French or French Creole (4.47%) #Chinese (4.31%) #German (2.95%) #Tagalog (2.61%) #Vietnamese (2.15%) #Italian (2.15%) #Korean (1.90%) #Russian (1.50%) #Polish (1.42%) #Arabic (1.31%) #Portuguese or Portuguese Creole (1.20%) #Japanese (1.02%) (Note that our ranking differs from the MLA website because we combine French and French Creole.)

Reapportionment

The results of the census are used to determine how many congressional districts each state is apportioned. Congress defines the formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U.S. Code, to reapportion among the states the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. The apportionment population consists of the resident population of the fifty states, plus the overseas military and federal civilian employees and their dependents living with them who could be allocated to a state. Each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U. S. House of Representatives. Since 1790 Census, the first census, the decennial count has been the basis for the United States representative form of government. In 1790, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents. Since then, the House has more than quadrupled in size, and each member represents about 19 times as many constituents. Image:2000-census-reapportionment.jpg

External links and references

United States Census Bureau web pages


- [http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html Census 2000 gateway]
- [http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html Population Profile of the United States: 2000]
- [http://www.census.gov/population/pop-profile/2000/profile2000.ppt Population Profile Introductory slide show], in MS Powerpoint format
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/ State and County QuickFacts], the most requested information
- [http://factfinder.census.gov American FactFinder], for population, housing, economic, and geographic data

Other 2000 census websites


- [http://www.mla.org/census_main MLA Language Map] from the Modern Language Association
- [http://people.howstuffworks.com/census.htm How the Census Works] Category:Demographics of the United States Category:National censuses

New Jersey

New Jersey is the fourth smallest and most densely populated state of the United States of America; the U.S. postal abbreviation is NJ. The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.

History

Once inhabited by the tribes of the Lenape Native Americans, New Jersey was settled by the Dutch in the early 1630s, who formed a settlement at present-day Jersey City. At the time, much of what is now New Jersey was claimed as part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which also included parts of present-day New York State and had its capital at New Amsterdam, now known as New York City. Some of southwestern New Jersey also was settled by the Swedes in the mid-1600s as part of the Swedish colony of New Sweden, which included parts of Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. These territories were taken by the Dutch in 1654 and incorporated into New Netherland. The entire region became a territory of Britain in 1664 when a British fleet under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is today New York Harbor and took over the colony. They met minimal resistance, perhaps because of the unpopularity of the Dutch colonial governor, Peter Stuyvesant. The newly taken lands were divided by King Charles II of England, who gave his brothe