The US state of New Jersey is situated within the Mid-Atlantic or Northeastern area of the United States. The population of the state of New Jersey reached 8,791,894 inhabitants, according to the United States 2010 Census. The state of New Jersey shares its border with the state of New York in the east and north, and by the Atlantic Ocean in the south, by Delaware on the southwest, and by Pennsylvania in the west. The state of New Jersey lies mostly in the sprawling metropolitan parts of New York City and Philadelphia and is the most crowded state in the nation. It is likewise the 3rd wealthiest by 2009-2010 median household income.
The area was inhabited by Native Americans for over 2,800 years, with historical tribes such as the Lenape along the coast. In the early 17th century, the Swedes and the Dutch made the first European settlements. The British later seized control of the region, calling it the Province of New Jersey. It was granted as a colony to John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton and Sir Goerge Carteret. At this time, it was named after the biggest of the British Channel Islands, Jersey, where Carteret had been born. New Jersey was the site of some decisive battles in the American Revolutionary War.
A lot of factories operated within the cities of Paterson, Trenton and Elizabeth in the 19th century, which helped to drive the Industrial Revolution. The state's position at the center of the Northeast megalopolis, between New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C. and Baltimore, fueled its fast growth through the suburban boom of the 1950s and beyond.
The state of New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time Europeans arrived. The Lenape were loosely organized groups that practiced small-scale agriculture to be able to increase their largely mobile hunter-gatherer society within the region surrounding the lower Hudson River, the western Long Island Sound and the Delaware River. The Lenape society was divided into matrilinear clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign: Wolf, Turtle and Turkey. They first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their first relationship together with the Europeans was through fur trade.
The economy of the state is dependent upon the business sectors like for instance the pharmaceutical business, the financial business, telecommunications, chemical development, food processing, electric equipment, tourism and printing and publishing. Agriculture which is produced within the state comprise nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, dairy products and seafood. The state of New Jersey ranks 4th in bell peppers, peaches and head lettuce, 2nd among states in production of blueberry and 3rd in cranberries and spinach.
The state's economy is strongly influenced by scientific businesses, consisting of major pharmaceutical companies like for instance Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Wyeth, Hoffman-LaRoche, Schering-Plough and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The state of New Jersey is home to major telecommunications businesses like Verizon Wireless, Avaya, AT&T Communications and Alcatel-Lucent. What's more, the state of New Jersey draws upon its large and well-educated labor pool which also supports the myriad of industries that exist today.