New Jersey (often informally abbreviated to "Jersey") is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is the fourth smallest, tenth most populous, and most densely populated state in the US. The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. 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.

Inhabitated by Native Americans for more than 11,000 years, the area was settled by the Swedes and Dutch. The British later seized control of the region, which was granted to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton as the colony of New Jersey. New Jersey was an important site during the American Revolutionary War; several decisive battles were fought there. Later, working-class cities such as Paterson helped to drive the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. New Jersey's position at the center of the BosWash megalopolis, between Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., fueled its rapid growth through the suburban boom of the 1950s and beyond.