Key facts about New Jersey and it`s symbols.

State Nickname - Garden State
State Motto - "Liberty and Prosperity"
State Song - none

State Flag

New Jersey's official state flag was adopted on March 26, 1896.

Bird: Eastern Goldfinch

Flower: Violet (Viola sororia)

Capital city: Trenton

Information about famoust person from New Jersey - my favourite singer Jon Bon Jovi

                                                                  Jon Bon Jovi

John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor, best known as the founder and the lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983.

As a songwriter, Jon Bon Jovi inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2012, Jon Bon Jovi ranked number fifty on the list of Billboard magazine's "Power 100", a ranking of "The Most Powerful and Influential People In The Music Business". In 1996, People magazine named him as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People In The World". In 2000, the same magazine named him as the "Sexiest Rock Star" and he was also placed at number thirteen on VH1's "100 Sexiest Artists ".

In addition, Jon Bon Jovi is the one of the majority owners of the AFL team Philadelphia Soul. He is the founder of The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation which was founded in 2006 and exists to combat issues that force families and individuals into economic despair. He also campaigned for Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election, John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election, and Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election. In 2010, President Barack Obama named Jon Bon Jovi to the White House Council for Community Solutions. He was also awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Monmouth University in 2001.

I added this famoust person because of it`s popularity among people all over the world. His songs are very cool, about life and feelings of other people.

Interesting facts about the geography of New Jersey

Some interesting facts about the geography of my state: 

New Jersey is surrounded by water except along the 50 mi (80 km) of northern border with New York state. The northern third of the state lies within the Appalachian Highland region, where ridges running northeast and southwest shelter valleys containing pleasant streams and glacial lakes. Beyond the crest of wooded slopes are long-established farms given over to dairying and field crops. The Kittatinny Mts., with the state's highest elevations (up to 1,803 ft/550 m), stretch across the northwest corner of New Jersey from the New York border to the Delaware Water Gap. In 1961 New Jersey, along with three other states and the federal government, signed the Delaware River Basin Compact, providing for the control of water resources and rights throughout the Delaware River basin.


Moreover here are some helpful and interesting links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey#Geography

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0859951.html

http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/nj_geography.htm

http://geology.com/states/new-jersey.shtml

http://www.newjerseydiary.us/Geography/

History of the state New Jersey

The history of New Jersey goes back to Dutch and Swedish communities established prior to settlement by the English. Dutch claims to the Hudson and Delaware valleys were based on the voyages of Henry Hudson, who sailed into Newark Bay in 1609. 

In 1681 William Penn and 11 other Quakers purchased East Jersey from Carteret's widow. In both Jerseys confusion resulting from the unwieldy number of landowners together with widespread resentment against authority caused the proprietors to surrender voluntarily their governmental powers to the crown in 1702, although they retained their land rights. New Jersey's independence from New York was recognized, but authority was vested in the governor of New York until 1738, when Lewis Morris was appointed governor of New Jersey alone. Under the royal governors the same problems persisted—land titles were in dispute and opposition to the proprietors culminated in riots in the 1740s.

East Jersey was dominated by Calvinism, implanted by Scottish and New England settlers, while in West Jersey the Quakers soon developed a landed aristocracy with strong political and economic influence. Anti-British sentiment gradually spread from its stronghold in East Jersey throughout the colony and took shape in Committees of Correspondence. Although the Tory party was to prove strong enough to raise six Loyalist battalions, the patriot cause was generally accepted, and in June, 1776, the provincial congress adopted a constitution and declared New Jersey a state.

Washington Crossing the Delaware

And here I add some links about the history:

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/new-jersey-history.html

http://www.state.nj.us/nj/about/history/short_history.html

http://www.nj.gov/nj/about/history/