New Jersey

A state of the east-central United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It was admitted as one of the original Thirteen Colonies in 1787. The region was settled by Dutch and Swedish colonists in the 1620s and 1630s, was ceded to the English as part of New Netherland in 1664, and became a royal province in 1702. The colony was strategically important in the American Revolution and was the site of a number of major battles, including the engagements at Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth. Trenton is the capital and Newark the largest city. Population: 8,690,000.