The U.S. state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

is home to significant and growing numbers of people of

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

and

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

descent. who in 2018 represented a

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

- estimated 20.4% of the state's total population (nearly 1.8 million). New Jersey's Latino population comprises substantial concentrations of

Dominican American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

Puerto Rican American Stateside Puerto Ricans ( es, link=no, Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos), also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans ( es, link=no, puertorriqueño-americanos,), or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the U ...

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or t ...

s, Mexican Americans,

Central American Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Cen ...

Peruvian American Peruvian Americans are Americans of Peruvian descent. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, , 720,626 U.S. residents identify themselves as being of Peruvian origin. Approximately 62% of Peruvian ...

Colombian American Colombian Americans ( es, Colomboestadounidenses), are Americans who trace their ancestry to Colombia. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of full or partial Colombian descent or to someone who has immigrated to the United Sta ...

s, and

Ecuadorian American Ecuadorian Americans ( es, ecuatorio-americanos, or ) are Americans of full or partial Ecuadorian ancestry. Ecuadorian Americans are the 9th largest Latin American group in the United States. Ecuadorian Americans are usually of European (mainly ...

s. New Jersey is also home to a large Brazilian American and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

-speaking population. The state has multiple municipalities with Hispanic-majority populations. Latinos and Hispanics form one-third of the population in the largest city,

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

settling in the Forest Hill,

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods which comprise mostly of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. The northern part of Hudson County has been nicknamed ''

Havana on the Hudson Havana on the Hudson is a nickname for the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The name is derived from the Cuban capital Havana and from northern Hudson County's geographic proximity to the Hudson River. During the latter ...

'' for the large number of Cuban exiles and émigrés living there. ''

Little Lima Little Lima is a Peruvian enclave in Downtown Paterson, New Jersey, United States, and the largest Peruvian enclave outside of South America, home to approximately 10,000 Peruvian immigrants, by U.S. Census Bureau estimates. New Jersey's Peruvian ...

'', in Paterson, is the largest

Peruvian Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in th ...

enclave outside of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. Many Latino and Hispanic people have been elected to public office in New Jersey, at both the state and local levels.

Places and populations

Municipalities with majority Hispanic populations are: as of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

Places with over 100,000 people

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

(59.5%) * Paterson (57.6%), which includes ''

'' and '' La Ventiuno''

Places with between 25,000 and 100,000 people

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by ...

(68.4%) * Newark (33.83%) *

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

(71.0%) *

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

(78.1%) * Union City (84.7%) *

West New York West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates ...

(78.1%)

Places with between 10,000 and 25,000 people

* Dover (69.4%) * Fairview (54.6%) * Guttenberg (64.8%)

Places with fewer than 10,000 people

* East Newark (61.4%) * Prospect Park (52.1%) *

Victory Gardens ''Victory Gardens'' (1991) is the debut album from John & Mary, recorded in 1990 just six months after the two met in December 1989 and immediately following their signing with Rykodisc. John Lombardo, former member of 10,000 Maniacs and respon ...

(63.0%)

Bar Chart of Race & Ethnicity in New Jersey (2015)

Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development

The

New Jersey Department of Community Affairs The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The department is headed by Commissioner Sheila Oliver, who is also serving as lieutenant governor of New Jersey. Function The NJDCA prov ...

Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development is designed to empower the Hispanic community of New Jersey by administering

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

dollars and providing other assistance to Hispanic community-based organizations, creating training and employment opportunities for Hispanic college interns, conducting and supporting research on New Jersey's Hispanic community, and ensuring Hispanic access to services and programs.

Public officeholders

There are officeholders of Latino background throughout the state.

Statewide

Esther Salas Esther Salas (born December 29, 1968) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey sitting in Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most popul ...

, federal district judge for the

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...

Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina (born February 15, 1952) is a former associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Fernandez-Vina was nominated to the Supreme Court by Governor Chris Christie on September 30, 2013, and was sworn into office on ...

, Associate Justice

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...

Roberto A. Rivera-Soto Roberto A. Rivera-Soto (born November 10, 1953) is a former Associate judge, Justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court, Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, U.S.A. His seven-year term expired on August 31, 2011, and he was not nominated to an ...

, Associate Justice

US Congress

* Bob Menendez,

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Albio Sires Albio B. Sires (; born January 26, 1951) is a Cuban-born American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2006. The district, numbered as the from 2006 to 2013, includes most of northern and eastern Jers ...

, Member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

13th congressional district

State Legislators

Marlene Caride Marlene Caride (born August 14, 1963) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2012 to 2018, where she represented the 36th Legislative District. Caride resigned from the Assembly in January 2018 pending her c ...

(1963), 36th Legislative District. * Gabriela M. Mosquera, State Assemblywoman, 4th Legislative District *

Nilsa Cruz-Perez Nilsa Cruz-Perez (born January 21, 1961) is an American Democratic Party politician who was sworn into office to represent the 5th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate on December 15, 2014, to fill the vacant seat of Donald Norcross. ...

, State Senator, 5th District * Annette Quijano, State Assemblywomen 20th Legislative District * Teresa Ruiz, State Senator, 29th Legislative District *

Eliana Pintor Marin Eliana Assyrian/Akkadian, אֱלִיעָנָה (Hebrew), Ηλιάνα (Greek), إليانا (Arabic), is a female given name found with that spelling in Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Origin & meaning Many sources derive it from via He ...

, State Assemblywomen 29th Legislative District *

Vincent Prieto Vincent Prieto (born September 11, 1960) is an American Democratic Party politician. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2018, where he represented the 32nd Legislative District. He formerly served as the 170th Speaker of ...

, State Assemblyman 32nd legislative district, Speaker of Assembly * Angelica M. Jimenez, State Assemblywomen 32nd Legislative District * Ruben J. Ramos, State Assemblyman, 33rd legislative district * Caridad Rodriguez, State Assemblywoman 33rd Legislative District * Nellie Pou, State Senator, 35th Legislative District * Location map of Hudson County, New Jersey

Location map of Hudson County, New Jersey

Kristin Corrado Kristin M. Corrado (born June 24, 1965) is an American Republican Party politician who represents the 40th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate. She was sworn into office on October 5, 2017. Before her appointment to the New Jersey Se ...

, State Senator, 40th Legislative District

Hudson

* Eliu Rivera, Freeholder District 4 * Rudy Garcia, appointed mayor of Union City * Gabriel Rodriguez, Mayor of

Newark

The percentage of Latinos in

, the most populous city in New Jersey, grew considerably between 1980 and 2010, from 18.6% to 33.8%; that of blacks has slightly decreased from 58.2% to 52.4%. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 33.83% (93,746) or one-third of the population, of which 13% of the total population was Puerto Rican. While municipal elections have seen black-Latino coalitions, voting tends to remain racially polarized. * Luis A. Quintana Census Bureau map of Newark, New Jersey

* Teresa Ruiz

Passaic

* Hector Carlos Lora * Jose "Joey" Torres *Julio Tavarez, Councilmember representing 5th Ward in the City of Paterson, New Jersey
Bernice Toledo
Passaic County Surrogate Court Judge and New Jersey State Superior Court Deputy Clerk. Elected in 2011. Re-elected in 2016.

Bergen

Carlos Rendo Carlos Rendo (born 1964) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician from New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the stat ...

, Mayor of Woodcliff Lake * Anthony R. Suarez, served as Mayor of Ridgefield, New Jersey

Middlesex

Joseph Vas Joseph Vas (born January 18, 1955) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2010, where he represented the 19th Legislative District. He did not seek re-election to the assemb ...

Wilda Diaz Wilda Diaz (born Wilda Soto; September 14, 1964) was an American politician and former Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She was elected in May 2008, defeating incumbent Joseph Vas by a 58% to 42% margin.Adarlo, Sharon (May 14, 2008)"Perth Amboy ...

Union

* Angel Estrada * Annette Quijano

South Jersey

Carmen G. Rodriguez
Camden County Freeholder

Sports and arts

Trio Corrente Paquito D'Rivera Horizonte 2015 4586

Juan Pablo Ángel Juan Pablo Ángel Arango (born 24 October 1975) is a Colombian former footballer who last played as a striker for Atlético Nacional in Categoría Primera A. He began his career at Nacional, whom he helped to win the championship in 1994, ...

, professional soccer player for the New York Red Bull (

Colombian-American Colombian Americans ( es, Colomboestadounidenses), are Americans who trace their ancestry to Colombia. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of full or partial Colombian descent or to someone who has immigrated to the United St ...

) *

Amado Guevara Amado Guevara (born 2 May 1976) is a Honduran former professional footballer and manager. He was the coach of Puerto Rico from 2018 to 2019. A former midfielder, he is the second all-time cap leader for the Honduras national team seconded by M ...

, professional soccer player (

Honduran American Honduran Americans ( es, link=no, honduro-americano, or ) are Americans who trace their roots to Honduras, Honduran Americans belong to one or more of the follow ethnic groups such as mestizo, white, Lenca, Ladino people, Miskito people, Gar ...

) *Edward Fernandez, politician (

Dominican-American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

) *

Carol-Lynn Parente Carol-Lynn Parente (born December 15, 1963) is an American television producer, known as the executive producer of the children's educational TV series ''Sesame Street'' and creating the PBS KIDS series ''Hero Elementary''.Elbert, Lynn (August 2 ...

, executive producer of

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

(

Puerto Rican-American Stateside Puerto Ricans ( es, link=no, Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos), also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans ( es, link=no, puertorriqueño-americanos,), or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the U ...

) *

Franck de Las Mercedes Franck de las Mercedes (born 1972 in Masaya, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguan American visual artist, poet and photographer who lives and works in New York City. Franck's experience as a child in war-torn Nicaragua, the visual clash of New York's graffi ...

, visual artist (

Nicaraguan American A Nicaraguan American ( es, nicaragüense-americano, ''nicaragüense-estadounidense'', or ) is an American of Nicaraguan descent. They are also referred to as "nica" or "nicoya". The Nicaraguan American population at the 2010 Census was 348,20 ...

)Levine, Daniel Rome
"Triunfador Franck de Las Mercedes"
''

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

'', August 16, 2007. Accessed August 18, 2008. *

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and current head coach of Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, ...

, US national soccer team player (

Uruguayan American Uruguayan Americans ( es, uruguayo-americanos, or ) are Americans of Uruguayan ancestry or birth. The American Community Survey of 2006 estimated the Uruguayan American population to number 50,538, a figure that notably increased a decade later. ...

)Mifflin, Lawrie
"Doing a Star Turn for the Home Team, at Last"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', August 18, 1996. Accessed January 7, 2008. * Jorge Rojas, professional soccer player for the New York Red Bull (

Venezuelan American Venezuelan Americans ( es, link=no, venezolano-americanos or ) are Americans who trace their heritage, or part of their heritage, to the nation of Venezuela. The word may refer to someone born in the US of Venezuelan descent or to someone who ha ...

) *

Pedro Sosa Pedro Sosa (born February 6, 1987) is a former American football offensive tackle for the Hartford Colonials of the defunct United Football League. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college footba ...

, professional American football player (Dominican-American) * Paquito D'Rivera, nine-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

–winning

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

maestro and writer (Cuban-American)