Bergen County, New Jersey

Bergen County is the most populous of the  of,. As of the, the population was 884,118, growing to 904,037 as of the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate. It is part of the. Its is. Bergen County ranks as the 21st among the, with a per capita income of $33,638.

History
In 1675, Bergen was included in a judicial district with, and  counties, while the territory was called , a  (as opposed to a ). In 1683, Bergen (along with the three other counties) was officially recognized as an independent county by the Provincial Assembly. At the time of its creation, Bergen County's territory also included the current territory of (formed in 1840), and portions of  (formed in 1837).

Bergen saw several battles and troop movements during the. 's location atop the, opposite in , made it a strategic position during the war. In November, 1776 the took place as part of the 's attempts to keep British forces from sailing up the. After these defensive positions were hastily abandoned, the American forces staged a retreat through present-day and, and across the  at , one of the few sites where the river was crossed by a bridge. With the British in pursuit, this retreat allowed American forces to escape capture and regroup for subsequent successes against the British elsewhere in New Jersey later that winter. The took place in 1778 in, resulting in severe losses for the Continentals. In 1852, the began operating major rail services from  on the  to points north and west via leased right-of-way in the county. This became known as the, and is still in use for passenger service today.

In the late 19th century, state law was changed to allow easy formation of municipalities with the form of government. This led to the phenomenon where many new municipalities were created in a span of a few years.

was created in eastern Bergen County for troop staging in.

In 1931, the was completed, linking  to. This connection would spur development in the post-World War II era, developing much of the county to levels. A second deck of traffic on the bridge was completed in 1962, expanding its capacity to 14 lanes.

In 1955, the created a  station at  (in the west of the county) for the defense of the  from s.  In 1959, the site was upgraded to house s with increased range, speed and payload characteristics. The missile site closed in June 1971.

Bergen County is one of the last remaining areas of the country in which s are still in effect. This means that nearly all businesses in the county are closed on Sundays.

In 2005, Bergen County, along with neighboring, was listed by Forbes.com as the sixth most overpriced place in the nation. In 2004, the two counties were ranked second.

As of 2005, Bergen had the fourth-highest median property tax of any county in the nation at $6,846, the second highest in New Jersey behind.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 639 (247 ). 606 km² (234 sq mi) of it is land and 33 km² (13 sq mi) of it (5.12%) is water.

The highest elevation is near the  state line in, at 1,164 feet (355 m) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level, along the, which in this region is more of a than a river.

The sharp cliffs of the lift much the county up from the river along the eastern boundary with the Hudson River, but then relief remains relatively minimal across the county as much of it is in the  valley. Only in the northwestern portion of the county are any serious hills found, leading to the

The damming of the Hackensack River and a tributary, the, produced three s in the county, , and , which provide drinking water to much of northern New Jersey. The Hackensack River drains the eastern portion of the county through the, a area in the southern portion of the county. The central portion is drained by the and the western portion is drained by the. Both of these are tributaries of the, which forms a section the southwestern border of the county.

Bergen County is bordered by to the north, by, , and  in New York, across the  to the east,  to the south, a small border with  also to the south and  to the west.

County Government


Bergen has had a form of government since 1986. The current County Executive is. The executive, along with the administer all county business. As of 2007, Bergen County's Freeholders are:
 * Freeholder Chairman (D, )
 * Freeholder Vice-Chairman (D, )
 * (D, )
 * (D, )
 * (D, )
 * (D, )
 * (D, )

Bergen also elects three countywide officials, separately from the County Executive and Freeholder Board, who are (as of January 2007) Sheriff Leo McGuire (D), Surrogate Court Judge Michael Dressler (D-Cresskill), and County Clerk (R-Rutherford).

State representatives
The seventy municipalities of Bergen County are represented by seven separate. Three of these districts (the 37th, 38th and 39th) are situated entirely within the county, the others cross county boundaries.

Congressional representatives
Two federal s cover the county, with the northern portion of the county in, represented by  and the southern portion of the county in , represented by.

Blue laws
One of the last remaining s in the United States that covers virtually all selling is found in Bergen County. It has produced the ironic situation that one of the largest and most popular commercial shopping cores of the is almost completely closed on Sunday (grocery stores are allowed to operate). Furthermore, Bergen County has significant populations of ish (2000 estimate of 83,700) and (2000 estimate of 6,473) residents whose observant members would not be celebrating their  on Sunday with most of their  neighbors. The substantial ish minority is placed in the position of being unable to shop either on Sunday (due to the blue laws) or on Saturday (due to religious observance).

However, repeated attempts to lift the law have failed as voters either see keeping the law on the books as a protest against the growing trend toward increasing hours and days of commercial activity in American society or enjoy the sharply reduced traffic on major roads and highways on Sunday that is normally seen the other days of the week. In fact, a large part of the reason for maintaining the laws has been a desire for relative peace and quiet one day of the week by many Bergen County residents.

This desire for relative peace is most apparent in, where most of the county's largest shopping malls are located, along the intersecting highways of and , which are jam-packed on many Saturdays. Paramus has enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced by Bergen County, banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays, including white collar workers in office buildings. Local Blue laws in Paramus were first proposed in 1957, while the and  were under construction. The legislation was motivated by fears that the two new malls would aggravate the already severe highway congestion caused by local retail businesses along the borough's highways.

The Bergen County court system consists of a number of municipal courts handling and other minor matters, plus the Bergen County Superior Court which handles the more serious offenses.

Transportation
Bergen County has a well-developed road network, including the northern termini of the (a portion of ) and the, the eastern terminus of  and a portion of. US Highways, , , , and New Jersey state highways , , , , , and the also serve the region.

Access to is primarily available for motorists through the  in  and the  in. Train service is available on three lines from : the, the  and the. They run north-south to with connections to the  train. New Jersey Transit also offers connecting one-stop service to via the  transfer station. Connections are also available at the to the  and  ferry service to the  and other destinations. Although the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail bears the "Bergen" name, it has not yet expanded to run into the county; this is planned for the future. There is also bus service, available from and private companies such as  and DeCamp Bus Lines, offering transport within Bergen County, elsewhere in New Jersey and to the  and  in New York City.

The only airport in the county is in, which is operated by the. Most commercial air traffic is handled by nearby in, which also serves as a major airport for the.

For the main surface-street routes through the county, see.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 884,118 people, 330,817 households, and 235,210 families residing in the county. The was 1,458/km² (3,776/sq mi). There were 339,820 housing units at an average density of 560/km² (1,451/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 78.41%, 5.27% or , 0.15% , 10.67% , 0.02% , 3.22% from , and 2.26% from two or more races. 10.34% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 330,817 households out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.00% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $65,241, and the median income for a family was $78,079. Males had a median income of $51,346 versus $37,295 for females. The for the county was $33,638. About 3.40% of families and 5.00% of the population were below the, including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 5.90% of those age 65 or over.

Bergen is the most populous county in New Jersey, with approximately 90,000 more residents than. It is also fairly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and religion. One of the largest immigrant groups in Bergen County is the community, which is concentrated along the  - especially in the area near the  - and represents over half of the state's entire Korean population. boasts the highest percentage (36.38%) and total number (6,065) of Koreans among all municipalities in the state, while neighboring has the second largest cluster (5,978) and third highest proportion (17.18%, trailing Leonia's 17.24%). Eight of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population are located in Bergen County, including Palisades Park, Leonia, Fort Lee,, , , , and. Overall, sixteen of the top twenty communities on that list are located in Bergen; virtually all are in the eastern third of the county near the Hudson River.

In addition, the commercial districts of several communities &mdash; including, , , , , and to a lesser extent , , and &mdash; collectively function as a sprawling suburban  for northern New Jersey, drawing shoppers from throughout the region. There is also an entrenched Korean population in the, especially in , , , , , and , as well as in several inland boroughs, including , , and.

represent the second largest Asian ethnic group in Bergen County, with slightly larger numbers than the Filipino and Chinese communities. Although the Indian American population in the area is widely dispersed, its biggest clusters are located in,  ,  , and. Bergenfield and, to a lesser extent, , and , have become a hub for immigrants, with Bergenfield becoming the first municipality on the  to elect a mayor of Filipino descent in November 1999. Taken as a whole, these four adjacent municipalities contain over 40% of Bergen's entire Filipino population  , although there are small numbers of Filipinos in many of the county's communities.

The population is also spread out, with fairly sizable populations in Fort Lee, Paramus, and Englewood Cliffs. Fort Lee and Paramus have the highest total number of Chinese among Bergen municipalities while Englewood Cliffs has the highest percentage (8.42%). And the small community, which mainly consists of foreign businessmen and their families, has long had a presence in Fort Lee, with over a quarter of the county's total Japanese population living in that borough alone. The remainder of Bergen's Japanese residents are concentrated in the towns surrounding Fort Lee as well as in a few northern communities such as.

Meanwhile, s have long had a significant presence in Bergen County; in fact, Italian is the most commonly identified first ancestry among Bergen residents (21.0%). Overall, 194,614 Bergen residents were recorded as being of Italian heritage in the most recent census. To this day, many residents of the communities in the south are of Italian descent, most notably in  (36.3%),  (33.8%),  (31.2%),  (30.9%) and  (30.8%). (29.8%), (29.4%),  (28.5%),, , and the southeastern Bergen towns were Italian American strongholds for decades, but their numbers have diminished in recent years as immigrants have taken their place. At the same time, Italian American population has grown in many of the affluent communities in the northern half of the county, including,  ,  , and.

s and s are the next largest ethnic groups in Bergen County, numbering 133,351 (12.8% of the county's total population) and 98,929 (11.2%), respectively. As is the case with, these two groups established sizable enclaves long ago and are now firmly entrenched in all areas of the county. are also well-represented throughout Bergen, with 65,232 residents of descent as of the last census. The community's cultural and commercial heart has long been centered in, where 45.5% of the population is of Polish descent; this is the largest concentration among New Jersey municipalities and the seventh-highest in the United States. In recent years, the adjacent city of has also become a magnet for Polish immigrants, with 22.9% of the population identifying themeselves as being of Polish ancestry, the third highest concentration in the state. And while Polish Americans are the fourth-largest ethnic group in Bergen County, is also the second most common place of birth (after ) for foreign-born county residents.

Many towns in the county have a significant number of, including , , , , , , , , and. Teaneck, Fair Lawn and Englewood in particular have become havens for the Conservative and communities, while Fair Lawn, Tenafly, Alpine and Fort Lee are well-known as hubs for , including a substantial proportion of. Closter, and Tenafly also have the largest communities in Bergen County and two of the three largest in the state. Altogether, 83,700 Bergen residents identified themselves as being of heritage in the most recent study.

s have had a fairly sizable presence in Bergen for several decades, and according to census data the Greek community currently numbers 13,247 county-wide. The largest concentrations by percentage are in (7.2%),  (5.2%),  (3.7%), and  (3.5%). Similarly, the population in Bergen (8,305 according to the 2000 Census) is dispersed throughout the county, but its most significant concentration is in the southeastern towns near the George Washington Bridge. (3.6%), (3.4%),  (3.1%),  (2.4%),  (2.4%),  (2.3%), and  (2.2%) have the highest percentage of Armenians among all municipalities in the state, and in fact are all in the top 20 nationwide. Furthermore, the top 25 New Jersey communities on that list are all Bergen County communities.

Bergen also has a moderately sized population, which numbered 6,473 as of the last census. Its most notable Muslim enclaves are centered in and, two of the most diverse communities in the entire county. Bergen's Muslim population primarily consists of s, s, and s, although it should be noted that many members of these groups practice other faiths. While have not established a significant presence in any particular municipality, in total there are 11,755 county residents who indicated  ancestry in the most recent survey. . The overwhelming majority of Bergen's Arab American population (64.3%) is constituted by persons of  (2,576),  (2,568) , and  (2,417) descent.

The county's community is almost entirely concentrated in three municipalities:  (10,215 residents, accounting for 38.98% of the city's total population),  (11,298; 28.78%), and  (10,518; 24.65%). Collectively, these three areas account for nearly 70% of the county's total African American population of 46,568, and in fact blacks have had a presence in these towns since the earliest days of the county. In sharp contrast, African-Americans comprise less than 2% of the total in most of Bergen's other municipalities. In Englewood, the African American population is concentrated in the Third and Fourth wards of the western half of the city, while the northeastern section of Teaneck has been an African American enclave for several decades. Hackensack's long-established African American community is primarily located in the central part of the city, especially in the area near Central Avenue and First Street.

The diverse population in Bergen is growing in many areas of the county, but is especially concentrated in a handful of municipalities, including  (37.1%),  (25.9%),  (22.2%),  (21.8%),  (21.3%),  (20.1%),  (18.2%),  (18.0%), and  (17.0%). Traditionally, many of the residents were of  and  ancestry, although that has been changing in recent years. Currently, 's Colombian community is the largest in Bergen County and among the top ten in the (7.17%);, , , and  also have notable populations. The Cuban population is largest in, , , and , although the Cuban community is much bigger in to the south. Since 1990 an increasing number of immigrants from other countries have entered the region, including people from, , , the , , and. The diverse backgrounds of the local Latino community are best exemplified in, where 10% of the overall population hails from Central America, 7% from South America and 9% from other Latin American countries, mainly the Caribbean.

In the  magazine 2006 ranking of the Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the United States, was ranked as the 8th most expensive in the country, with a median home sale price in 2005 of $1,790,000. In all, twelve Bergen County municipalities were represented on the list, including (ranked #78; median sale price of $1,112,500),  (107; $997,000),  (111; $985,000),  (266; $786,000),  (342; $747,500),  (350; $742,000),  (353; $740,000),  (405; $700,000),  (452; $684,000) and  (470; $675,000).

Education
Bergen has several colleges and universities:


 * - and
 * - and
 * - and
 * - and
 * - and

Bergen has some 45 s, see. It also has at least 21 high schools, see.

Municipalities
In the last decades of the 19th century, Bergen County, to a far greater extent than any other county in the state, began divvying its townships up into incorporated boroughs; this was chiefly due to the phenomenon, triggered by a number of loopholes in state laws that allowed boroughs to levy lower taxes and send more members to the county's board of freeholders. There was a 10-year period in which many of Bergen County's townships disappeared into the patchwork of boroughs that exist today, before the state laws governing municipal incorporation were changed.

Historical municipalities
Over the history of the county, there have been various municipality secessions, annexations, and renamings. The following is a partial list of former municipalities, ordered by year of incorporation.

Educational/Cultural

 * , Hackensack &mdash; There the is moored in the  and is available for tours as a.
 * , Paramus
 * , Lyndhurst
 * , Tenafly
 * The Puffin Foundation, Teaneck
 * The Puffin Foundation, Teaneck

Commercial/Entertainment

 * , East Rutherford
 * , East Rutherford (formerly known as the Continental Airlines Arena and the Brendan Byrne Arena)
 * , East Rutherford
 * , shopping mall, Paramus
 * , shopping mall, Hackensack
 * , shopping mall, Paramus
 * , shopping mall, Paramus
 * , shopping mall, Paramus
 * , Japanese shopping plaza and supermarket, Edgewater

County parks

 * , Garfield
 * , Mahwah
 * , Garfield
 * , Mahwah
 * , Wyckoff
 * , Mahwah
 * , Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park
 * , Lyndhurst, North Arlington
 * , Westwood
 * , Franklin Lakes
 * , Paramus, Glen Rock, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook, Ridgewood
 * , Wallington
 * , Paramus
 * , Woodcliff Lake
 * , Paramus

County-owned historical sites

 * site, River Vale
 * , Cresskill
 * , River Edge
 * , Paramus
 * , Fair Lawn
 * , Little Ferry
 * , Paramus
 * , Park Ridge

State parks

 * , Mahwah
 * , Fort Lee, Englewood Cliffs, Tenafly, Alpine

State-owned historical sites

 * , New Milford, River Edge and Teaneck
 * , Ho-Ho-Kus
 * , River Edge (at New Bridge Landing)

Other historical sites

 * see