South Jersey is a colloquial term, with no consensus definition, covering the southern portions of New Jersey between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. Some people divide New Jersey into North Jersey and South Jersey; some put Central Jersey between them.

New Jersey is sandwiched between two large cities: New York City in the northeast and Philadelphia in the southwest; Benjamin Franklin called her "a barrel tapped at both ends". South Jersey is theoretically the area within the Philadelphia sphere of influence, whereas North Jersey is the area within New York City's influence.

Geography

South Jersey is the area that grew and expanded with Philadelphia, as part of its metropolitan area, as opposed to with New York. Traditionally, the term was used to separate only the most urban and industrial, northeastern New Jersey's counties from the rural rest of the state, as West Jersey separated East Jersey historically. While West Jersey encompassed the areas that now make up approximately 14 of New Jersey's 21 counties in the center, south, and northwest, "South Jersey" today comprises only 8 counties, with the other 13 now being considered "North Jersey" as they have grown and industrialized due to the outward growth of New York more so than of Philadelphia.

There is no longer a division between the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. They meet in Central Jersey, the counties directly north of South Jersey: Somerset County, Middlesex County, Mercer County, Monmouth County and Ocean County .