Newark is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County. As one of the nation’s major air, shipping, and rail hubs, the city had a population of 285,154 in 2017, making it the nation’s 70th-most populous municipality, after being ranked 63rd in the nation in 2000.

Settled in 1666 by Puritans from New Haven Colony, Newark is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Its location at the mouth of the Passaic River (where it flows into Newark Bay) has made the city’s waterfront an integral part of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Today, Port Newark–Elizabeth is the primary container shipping terminal of the busiest seaport on the American East Coast. In addition, Newark Liberty International Airport was the first municipal commercial airport in the United States, and today is one of its busiest.

Newark is divided into five political wards (the East, West, South, North and Central wards) and contains neighborhoods ranging in character from bustling urban districts to quiet suburban enclaves. Newark’s Branch Brook Park is the oldest county park in the United States and is home to the nation’s largest collection of cherry blossomtrees, numbering over 5,000.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 277,140 people, 94,542 households, and 61,641 families residing in the city. The population density was 11,458.3 per square mile (4,424.1/km²). There were 109,520 housing units at an average density of 4,528.1 per square mile (1,748.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 26.31% (72,914) White, 52.35% (145,085) Black or African American, 0.61% (1,697) Native American, 1.62% (4,485) Asian, 0.04% (118) Pacific Islander, 15.22% (42,181) from other races, and 3.85% (10,660) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.83% (93,746) of the population.

Newark has hosted many teams, though much of the time without an MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL team in the city proper. Currently, the city is home to just one, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

Newark is the home of multiple institutions of higher education, including: a Berkeley College campus, the main campus of Essex County College, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the Newark Campus of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (formerly University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey), Rutgers University–Newark, Seton Hall University School of Law, and Pillar College. Kean University is located in adjacent Union, New Jersey. Most of Newark’s academic institutions are in the city’s University Heights district. The colleges and universities have worked together to help revitalize the area, which serves more than 60,000 students and faculty.

Newark Liberty International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the New York metro area and the 15th-busiest in the United States (in terms of passenger traffic). Newark Airport was the New York City area’s first commercial airport, opened in 1928 on land reclaimed by the Port Authority.

Port Newark, on Newark Bay, is the fifteenth-busiest port in the world and the largest container port on the East Coast of the United States. In 2003, the port moved over $100 billion in goods.

Newark Penn Station, situated just east of downtown, is the city’s major train station. It is served by the interurban PATH train (which links 24/7 Newark to Jersey City and Manhattan), three NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, and Amtrak service.

Source: Wikipedia