Hackensack sits on the Hackensack River in northeastern New Jersey, about a dozen miles west of Manhattan, and serves as the county seat of Bergen County. It is the county's most populous municipality, with roughly 46,000 residents, and one of the region's most ethnically diverse cities. Its location places it inside the New York metropolitan area's dense commuter belt, within easy reach of both Manhattan and the shopping and employment corridors of Paramus and the Meadowlands. The city's identity has long been tied to two institutions: county government and health care. As the county seat, Hackensack hosts the Bergen County government and courthouse complex, while Hackensack University Medical Center, the flagship of the Hackensack Meridian Health network, stands among the state's largest and best-known hospitals and is a dominant local employer. Fairleigh Dickinson University's Metropolitan Campus straddles the river between Hackensack and Teaneck, adding a higher-education presence that brings students and faculty into the city. Hackensack's built environment is compact and varied. A residential high-rise district runs along Prospect Avenue, anchored by apartment buildings convenient to the hospital, while single-family neighborhoods of mid-century colonials, Capes, and larger homes spread across the rest of the city. Downtown Main Street, once Bergen County's dominant retail corridor, has rebounded through a wave of redevelopment, mixing longtime businesses with new restaurants, apartments, and the Hackensack Performing Arts Center. The city's diversity is a defining trait, reflected in its restaurants, markets, and houses of worship, and it draws both long-time residents and newcomers seeking an urban feel with commuter convenience. NJ Transit rail and bus service connects Hackensack directly to New York Penn Station and midtown, and major highways such as Route 4, Route 17, and Interstate 80 frame the city. For households wanting city amenities, a major medical center, and a short commute without Manhattan prices, Hackensack is a practical, increasingly amenity-rich choice in northern New Jersey.