Jersey City

Sister cities

• Nantong
• Oviedo
• Manila
• Ahmedabad
• Cusco
• Samartín del Rei Aurelio
• Ozamiz
• Vitória

History

The land that is now Jersey City was part of Lenapehoking and inhabited by the Lenape, a collection of Native American tribes (later called the Delaware Indian) that were part of the Algonquian nation. In 1609, Henry Hudson, seeking an alternate route to East Asia on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, anchored his small vessel Halve Maen (English: Half Moon) at Sandy Hook, Harsimus Cove and Weehawken Cove, and elsewhere along what was later named the North River. After spending nine days surveying the area and meeting its inhabitants, he sailed as far north as Albany and later claimed the region for the Netherlands. The contemporary flag of the city is a variation on the Prince's Flag from the Netherlands. The stripes are blue, white and yellow, with the center of the flag showing the city seal, depicting Hudson's ship, the Half Moon, and other modern vessels. By 1621, the Dutch West India Company was organized to manage this new territory and in June 1623, New Netherland became a Dutch province, with headquarters in New Amsterdam. Michael Reyniersz Pauw received a land grant as patroon on the condition that he would establish a settlement of not fewer than fifty persons within four years. He chose the west bank of the Hudson River and purchased the land from the Lenape for 80 fathoms (146 m) of wampum, 20 fathoms (37 m) of cloth, 12 kettles, six guns, two blankets, one double kettle, and half a barrel of beer. This grant is dated November 22, 1630, and is the earliest known conveyance for what are now Hoboken and Jersey City. Pauw, however, was an absentee landlord who neglected to populate the area and was obliged to sell his holdings back to the Company in 1633. That year, a house was built at Communipaw for Jan Evertsen Bout, superintendent of the colony,…

Geography

Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County and the second-most-populous city in New Jersey. The city is bordered to the east across the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay by Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York State, to the north by Secaucus, North Bergen, Union City and Hoboken, to the west across the Hackensack River and Newark Bay by Kearny and Newark, and to the south by Bayonne. Jersey City includes most of Ellis Island (the parts awarded to New Jersey by the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court in the case of New Jersey v. New York). Liberty Island is surrounded by Jersey City waters in the Upper New York Bay. Given its proximity and various mass transit connections to Manhattan, Jersey City (along with Hudson County as a whole) is sometimes referred to as New York City's sixth borough. Jersey City (and most of Hudson County) is located on the peninsula known as Bergen Neck, with a waterfront on the east at the Hudson River and New York Bay and on the west at the Hackensack River and Newark Bay. Its north–south axis corresponds with the ridge of Bergen Hill, the emergence of the Hudson Palisades. The city is the site of some of the earliest European settlements in North America, which grew into each other rather than expanding from a central point. This growth and the topography greatly influenced the development of the sections of the city and its various neighborhoods. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Jersey City has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) closely bordering on a humid continental climate (Dfa) similar to its parallel cities like Newark and New York City. With partial shielding from the Appalachian Mountains and moderating influences from the Atlantic Ocean, the climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  211,985
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  196,609
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  186,481
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  171,069
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  166,774
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  166,153
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  147,298
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  140,059

Largest nearby schools

• Union City High School
  High · Union City · 3,025 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• Bayonne High School
  High · BAYONNE · 2,656 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• North Bergen High School
  High · N BERGEN · 2,355 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Memorial High School
  High · WEST NEW YORK · 2,251 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• William L Dickinson High School
  High · JERSEY CITY · 2,024 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Kearny High School
  High · KEARNY · 1,827 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• BelovED Community Charter School
  Other · Jersey City · 1,551 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• James J Ferris High School
  High · JERSEY CITY · 1,348 students · 14.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2025-08-05
  1 km N of Hillsdale, New Jersey
• M 3 — 2025-08-03
  0 km W of Little Ferry, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-05-24
  6 km E of Califon, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-05-01
  1 km NW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-04-27
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-10
  5 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey