Atlantic County, New Jersey

Atlantic County is a located in the  of. As of the, the population is 252,552. Its is.

This county is part of the area.

History
All of what is known today as Atlantic County was once called Egg Harbor Township, the eastern half of the original. Named as an official district as early as 1693, when the area was known as the province of, it was bounded on the north by the Little Egg Harbor River (now known as the ), and on the south by the and its southern branch the. Its eastern boundary was the, but the western boundary in the interior was not fixed until 1761.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,739 (671 ). 1,453 km² (561 sq mi) of it is land and 286 km² (110 sq mi) of it (16.44%) is water.

Topographically, much of Atlantic County is low-lying and flat. The highest elevation, approximately 150 feet (50 m) above sea level, is found at two areas next to the passenger rail line just east of. Sea level is the lowest point.

Adjacent Counties

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 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 252,552 people, 95,024 households, and 63,190 families residing in the county. The was 174/km² (450/sq mi). There were 114,090 housing units at an average density of 79/km² (203/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 68.36%, 17.63% or , 0.26% , 5.06% , 0.05% , 6.06% from , and 2.58% from two or more races. 12.17% of the population were or  of any race. 18.6% were of, 13.0% , 9.5% and 5.2%  ancestry according to.

There were 95,024 households out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% were living together, 14.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,933, and the median income for a family was $51,710. Males had a median income of $36,397 versus $28,059 for females. The for the county was $21,034. About 7.60% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the, including 12.80% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government
In 1974, Atlantic County voters changed the county governmental form under the Optional County Charter Law to the form. The charter provides for a popularly-elected executive and for a nine-member, responsible for legislation. The freeholders are elected to staggered three-year terms in partisan elections. Five of the freeholders represent equally-populated districts ; four are elected from the county on an at-large basis.

is Atlantic County's Executive. The Current Board of Chosen Freeholders Members are:


 * , Freeholder At-Large (2008)
 * Frank Giordano, Freeholder At-Large (2009)
 * , Freeholder At-Large (2007)
 * Chairman Joseph F. Silipena, Freeholder At-Large (2008)
 * Rev. Lawton Nelson, Freeholder District 1, including Atlantic City (part), Egg Harbor Township (part) and Pleasantville. (2007)
 * Vice Chairman Thomas Russo, Freeholder District 2, including Atlantic City (part), Egg Harbor Township (part), Longport, Margate, Somers Point and Ventnor. (2009)
 * Frank Sutton, Freeholder District 3, including Egg Harbor Township (part), Hamilton Township (part), Linwood and Northfield. (2008)
 * , Freeholder District 4, including Absecon, Brigantine, Galloway Township and Port Republic. (2007)
 * , Freeholder District 5, including Buena Borough, Buena Vista Township, Corbin City, Egg Harbor City, Estell Manor, Folsom, Hamilton Township (part), Hammonton, Mullica Township and Weymouth. (2009)

Municipalities

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Education
Institutions of higher education in Atlantic County include:
 * in serves students from both Atlantic County and.
 * , in Pomona