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New Jersey
The Garden State, densely settled between two cities
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, yet the nickname "Garden State" is no joke — beyond its crowded northeast lies a surprising amount of farmland, forest, and shore. The state stretches between the orbits of New York City and Philadelphia, and its geography splits accordingly. The north is hilly, part of the Appalachian Highlands and the ridge-and-valley country, while the south flattens into the sandy Atlantic Coastal Plain, home to the vast Pine Barrens and 130 miles of barrier-island beaches.
Water nearly surrounds it — the Atlantic to the east, Delaware Bay and River to the west and south, and the Hudson to the northeast — making New Jersey almost an island. The Pine Barrens, more than a million acres of pine forest over a huge freshwater aquifer, form one of the largest open spaces on the Eastern Seaboard. High Point, the high point at 1,803 feet (550 m), tops the northern ridges. Between the two great cities, New Jersey packs ports, refineries, suburbs, farms, and shore towns into one of the busiest corridors in America.
Economy
New Jersey has a dense, high-income economy shaped by its position between New York City and Philadelphia. It is a longtime center of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries - earning the nickname the Medicine Chest of the World - and adds finance, telecommunications, and one of the busiest port complexes in the country at Newark and Elizabeth. Many residents commute to jobs in the neighboring metros.
Politics
New Jersey carries 14 electoral votes and votes reliably Democratic in presidential elections, reflecting its dense, suburban, and diverse population in the New York and Philadelphia orbits. State and local politics are more competitive, and the governorship has swung between the parties over the years.