Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, in the state's Gateway Region. It occupies a narrow peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and Upper New York Bay to the east, giving the city a waterfront on three sides. With a 2020 population of 71,686, Bayonne ranks among New Jersey's most populous municipalities and stands directly across the water from Staten Island, Brooklyn, and, to the northeast, Manhattan. The city's modern shape was defined by its industrial and maritime past. For much of the twentieth century Bayonne was a major center for petroleum refining, shipbuilding, and port activity, and its waterfront hosted the Bayonne Naval Drydock and later the Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY), a Department of Defense logistics facility that operated until 1999. The Bayonne Bridge, a steel-arch span completed in 1931, has long connected the city to Staten Island across the Kill Van Kull. The closing of the military terminal opened the peninsula's eastern tip to redevelopment, and the area has since been transformed into a mixed-use harbor district of residences, offices, and a cruise terminal. Today Bayonne functions as an urban-suburban city with a dense core of rowhouses, two-family homes, and older single-family housing, alongside newer waterfront development. Its location at the southern end of Hudson County's urban waterfront places it a short ride from Jersey City and Manhattan's financial district. Its transit links make it a practical home base for commuters working in New York City, Jersey City, and Hoboken, while its parks, marinas, and waterfront promenades give residents direct access to the harbor.