The state of New Jersey is one of the states of the United States of America and is situated in the North Eastern and the Mid Atlantic regions of the country. New Jersey is surrounded by New York, the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware, and Pennsylvania on the north, east, south west, and west respectively. There are certain areas of the state which are situated in the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and New York.

The state was initially inhabited for more than two thousand eight hundred years by the Native Americans. It was in the starting of the 1600s when European settlements were made by the Dutch and the Swedes. The name of the state comes from Jersey, which is an English Channel Island, and the largest of them all.

There are five regions which form the state of New Jersey, and they are differentiated with respect to population as well as geography. The five regions are:

• The Gateway Region, or North Eastern New Jersey, which is situated in the metropolitan area of New York
• The Skylands, or North Western New Jersey, which is a very popular place to live in even though it has more mountains, rural areas, and woods as compared to the region in the north east
• The Shore, which is situated in the south east and along the Atlantic Coast
• The South West, which is located in the Delaware Valley and in the metropolitan area of Philadelphia
• The Pine Barrens, which is situated in the southern interior of the state, and is covered to a large extent by oak and mixed pine forests. The population density in this region is low as compared to other areas in the state

The climate of most of New Jersey can be classified as being a humid subtropical climate. On the other hand the North West areas have a humid continental climate.