List of counties in New Jersey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are 21 counties in the U.S. state of New Jersey. These counties together contain 564 municipalities, or administrative entities composed of clearly defined territory; 253 boroughs, 52 cities, 15 towns, 240 townships, and 4 villages.[1] In New Jersey, a county is a local level of government between the state and municipalities. County government in New Jersey includes a Board of County Commissioners,[2] sheriff, clerk, and surrogate (responsible for uncontested and routine probate),[3] all of which are elected positions. Counties organized under the Optional County Charter Law may also have an elected county executive.[4] Counties traditionally perform state-mandated duties such as the maintenance of jails, parks, and certain roads.[5] The site of a county's administration and courts is called the county seat.

LocationNew Jersey
Number21
Populations66,280 (Salem) – 977,026 (Bergen)
Areas47 square miles (120 km2) (Hudson) – 805 square miles (2,080 km2) (Burlington)
Quick facts Counties of New Jersey, Location ...
Counties of New Jersey


A clickable New Jersey county mapSussex CountyEssex CountyPassaic CountyBergen CountyWarren CountyMorris CountyHunterdon CountySomerset CountyHudson CountyUnion CountyMiddlesex CountyMercer CountyMonmouth CountyOcean CountyBurlington CountyAtlantic CountyCamden CountyGloucester CountySalem CountyCumberland CountyCape May County
A clickable New Jersey county map
Clickable map of New Jersey counties
LocationNew Jersey
Number21
Populations66,280 (Salem) – 977,026 (Bergen)
Areas47 square miles (120 km2) (Hudson) – 805 square miles (2,080 km2) (Burlington)
Government
Subdivisions
  • Boroughs, cities, towns, townships, and villages
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History

See also: History of New Jersey

New Jersey was governed by two groups of proprietors as two distinct provinces, East Jersey and West Jersey, between 1674 and 1702. New Jersey's first counties were created as administrative districts within each province, with East Jersey split in 1675 into Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth counties, while West Jersey's initial counties of Burlington and Salem date to 1681.[6][7] The most recent county created in New Jersey is Union County, created in 1857 and named after the union of the United States when the Civil War was imminent. New Jersey's county names derive from several sources, though most of its counties are named after place names in England and prominent leaders in the colonial and revolutionary periods. Bergen County is the most populous county—as of the 2020 Census—with 955,732 people, while Salem County is the least populous with 64,837 people.

New Jersey legislature representation

Interactive map of counties in New Jersey

Until the 1960s, the New Jersey Senate had 21 representatives, one from each county regardless of population. In the wake of the 1964 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Reynolds v. Sims, establishing the one man, one vote principle that state legislative districts must be approximately equal in size, David Friedland filed suit in New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of two union leaders, challenging a system under which each county was represented by a single member in the New Jersey Senate. The court ruled unanimously that the existing system was unconstitutional, ordered that interim measures be established by statute for the 1965 legislative elections, and ordered that the needed constitutional changes to restructure the New Jersey Legislature to be in compliance with "one man, one vote" requirements be in place before elections took place in 1967.[8] The senate unilaterally—by internal rule, not by statute—enacted a proposal whereby each senator's vote would be weighted based on the population of the county represented, under which Cape May County's senator would receive one vote while the senator from Essex County would receive 19.1 votes, in direct relation to the ratio of residents between counties.[9] The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that it was unconstitutional for the senate to adopt a weighted voting system unilaterally.[9][10] In 1966, the constitution was amended to establish 40 districts statewide, each represented by one senator and two assembly members, without relation to county boundaries.[11]

FIPS code

New Jersey counties by population as of 2020 with darker colors indicating a higher population

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. FIPS codes are five-digit numbers; for New Jersey the codes start with 34 and are completed with the three-digit county code. The FIPS code for each county in the table links to census data for that county.[12]

List of counties

More information County, FIPS code ...
County
 FIPS code[12] County seat[13] Largest City[14] Est.[13] Formed from[6][7] Named for[15] Density (per mi2) Pop.[16] Area[13] Map
 
Atlantic County 001 Mays LandingEgg Harbor Township 47,8421837Gloucester CountyThe Atlantic Ocean, which forms the county's eastern border496.71 278,657 561 sq mi
(1,453 km2)		A county in the southeast part of the state. It is medium in size.
Bergen County 003 HackensackHackensack 46,0301683One of four original counties created in East JerseyBergen, New Netherland settlement4,175.32 977,026 234 sq mi
(606 km2)		A county in the northeast part of the state. It is small.
Burlington County 005 Mount HollyEvesham Township 46,8261694One of two original counties created in West JerseyThe old ancient name for an inland market near Bridlington, England598.06 481,439 805 sq mi
(2,085 km2)		A county in the southern part of the state. It gets wider as it goes northeast. It is one of the largest counties.
Camden County 007 CamdenCherry Hill 74,5531844Gloucester CountyCharles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden (1714–1794), an English supporter of the colonists during the American Revolution[17]2,413.51 535,799 222 sq mi
(575 km2)		A county in the southwest part of the state. It is very small.
Cape May County 009 Cape May Court HouseLower Township 22,0571692Burlington CountyCape May, named in turn for the 17th-century Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, who explored and surveyed the Delaware Bay to the south of the county366.24 93,390 255 sq mi
(660 km2)		A county the makes up the southern tip of the state. It is one of the smallest.
Cumberland County 011 BridgetonVineland 60,7801748Salem CountyPrince William, Duke of Cumberland (1721–1765), second son of George II of Great Britain and military victor at the Battle of Culloden in 1746321.37 157,148 489 sq mi
(1,267 km2)		A county in the southern part of the state, west of the tip. It is averagely sized.
Essex County 013 NewarkNewark 311,5491683One of four original counties created in East JerseyThe county of Essex in England7,114.12 896,379 126 sq mi
(326 km2)		A county in the northeast part of the state. It is one of the smallest.
Gloucester County 015 WoodburyWashington Township 48,6771686Burlington CountyThe city of Gloucester, England961.96 312,638 325 sq mi
(842 km2)		A county in the southwest part of the state. It is averagely sized.
Hudson County 017 Jersey CityJersey City 292,4491840Bergen CountyThe English explorer Henry Hudson (d. 1611), who explored portions of New Jersey's coastline15,639.00 735,033 47 sq mi
(122 km2)		A county in the northeast part of the state. It is the smallest county.
Hunterdon County 019 FlemingtonRaritan Township 23,4471714Burlington CountyRobert Hunter (1664–1734), the Colonial Governor of New Jersey from 1710 to 1720306.47 131,781 430 sq mi
(1,114 km2)		A county in the west part of the state, just north of the divide between north and south. It is averagely sized.
Mercer County 021 TrentonHamilton Township 92,2971838Burlington, Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset countiesThe Continental Army General Hugh Mercer (1726–1777), who died at the Battle of Princeton[18]1,766.77 399,289 226 sq mi
(585 km2)		A county in the western part of the state, just above an indentation. It is small compared to its neighbors.
Middlesex County 023 New BrunswickEdison 107,5881683One of four original counties created in East JerseyThe historic county of Middlesex in England2,840.31 883,335 311 sq mi
(805 km2)		A county in the northern part of the state. It is averagely sized.
Monmouth County 025 Freehold BoroughMiddletown Township 67,1061683One of four original counties created in East JerseyThe historic County of Monmouth in Great Britain1,379.31 651,035 472 sq mi
(1,222 km2)		A county in the central-western part of the state. It is averagely sized and gets skinnier in the west.
Morris County 027 MorristownParsippany-Troy Hills 56,1621739Hunterdon CountyColonel Lewis Morris (1671–1746), colonial governor of New Jersey at the time of the county's formation[19][20]1,117.81 524,251 469 sq mi
(1,215 km2)		A county in the northern part of the state, landlocked by other counties. It is well-sized.
Ocean County 029 Toms RiverLakewood Township 135,1581850Monmouth and Burlington countiesThe Atlantic Ocean, which forms the eastern border of New Jersey736.33 673,746 915 sq mi
(2,370 km2)		A county in the southeast part of the state. It is large and gets skinnier in the south.
Passaic County 031 PatersonPaterson 159,7321837Bergen and Essex countiesPasaeck, a Lenape word meaning "valley"2,873.64 531,624 185 sq mi
(479 km2)		A county in the north-central part of the state. It is small, and has two wide parts with a skinny area between them.
Salem County 033 SalemPennsville Township 12,6841694One of two original counties created in West JerseySalem, Biblical town, which takes its name from the Hebrew word for "peace."196.09 66,280 338 sq mi
(875 km2)		A county in the southwest part of the state. It is averagely sized.
Somerset County 035 SomervilleFranklin Township 68,3641688Middlesex CountyThe county of Somerset in England1,168.81 356,486 305 sq mi
(790 km2)		A county landlocked by other counties in the northern part of the state. It is small.
Sussex County 037 NewtonVernon Township 22,3581753Morris CountyThe county of Sussex in England284.19 148,063 521 sq mi
(1,349 km2)		A county in the northwest corner of the state. It is larger than most surrounding counties.
Union County 039 ElizabethElizabeth 137,2981857Essex CountyThe union of the United States, which was being threatened by the dispute over slavery5,843.33 601,863 103 sq mi
(267 km2)		A county in the northeast part of the state, on an indentation. It is one of the smallest counties.
Warren County 041 BelviderePhillipsburg 15,2491824Sussex CountyThe American Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren (1741–1775), killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill315.51 112,953 358 sq mi
(927 km2)		A county in the northwest part of the state. It is averagely sized.
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See also

References

Further reading

External links

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