Hudson County, New Jersey
The population density is highest in Hudson County, which is located in the state of New Jersey, United States. It is located to the west of the lower Hudson River, which was given its name in honour of Henry Hudson, the sea captain who discovered the region in 1609. Jersey City is the county seat of Hudson County and the biggest city in the county. It is located in the New York metropolitan region and is part of New Jersey's Gateway Region. According to the census completed in 2020, the population of Jersey City was 292,449.
Hudson County had the most rapid population growth of any county in New Jersey between the years of 2010 and 2020, as measured by the United States Census. As of the year 2020, the county had a total population of 724,854, representing an increase of 90,588 residents (14.3%) over the population of 634,266 counted in the 2010 U.S. Census. This places Hudson County as the fourth-most populous county in the state of New Jersey. Hudson County is New Jersey's physically smallest county, having just 46.19 square miles of land, yet it will have 15,693 inhabitants per square mile (6,130/km2) in the year 2020. As a result, it is also the state's most densely populated county. Its population in 2010 represented an increase of 25,291 (4.2%) over the county's population as determined by the U.S. Census in the year 2000, which was declared to be 608,975. Along with the majority of Northern and Central New Jersey, Hudson County has substantial links to the public transportation system in Manhattan, which is situated on the other side of the Hudson River. It is considered to be a component of the North Jersey area.
At the time when Europeans first made contact with the Lenape, or Lenni-Lenape, in the 17th century, Hudson County was the land of the Lenape (or Lenni-Lenape), more specifically the bands (or family groupings) known as the Hackensack, the Tappan, the Raritan, and the Manhattan. They were a people that moved seasonally and engaged in small-scale agriculture (companion planting), in addition to hunting and gathering activities, which most likely included a significant amount of fishing for shellfish and trapping due to the geography of the region. These groups engaged in regular and early commercial interactions with Europeans. In several of the local place names, such as Communipaw, Harsimus, Hackensack, Hoboken, Weehawken, Secaucus, and Pamrapo, the Algonquian language may still be deduced.
Henry Hudson, after whom the county and river on which it rests are called, staked a claim to the region in 1609 when he anchored his ship, the Halve Maen (Half Moon), in Harsimus Cove and Weehawken Cove. This was the event that led to the naming of both the county and the river on which it lies. Europeans (Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, and Huguenot) from the Lowlands established New Amsterdam at the same time as the west bank of the North River (which was named such at the time), as well as the cliffs, hills, and marshlands that abutted and beyond it.