Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Jersey is a place where state pride runs deep, but always seems in conflict. Fierce regional battles are waged over everything from geography to meat to the pronunciation of words like "home" and "chocolate." Today we look at how history has played a role and ponder the question: Should New Jersey really be two states?

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Why we're different

NJ Advance Media reporter Stephen Stirling delves into the deep divisions within the Garden State.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The dividing line already exist

About 330 years ago, a man named George Keith redefined New Jersey forever, though it was never something he set out to do.

Keith, a Scottish missionary and surveyor, was trying to define the long-disputed boundaries of two British provinces -- East and West Jersey -- which stood as the previous incarnations of the state's land before the Declaration of Independence was signed nearly a century later.

While the argument over what constitutes North, Central or South Jersey has raged in offices, bars and homes for years, the boundaries of East and West Jersey are not only more rooted in history, but experts say provide a more apt comparison of the distinctly different cultures that exist in the Garden State.

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Caught between two metropolises

The Keith Line has endured as a dividing line for many things in New Jersey and has arguably become the de facto, North-South Jersey border, though it is a more accurate representation of East-West.

Most commonly, the division manifests in sports allegiances to the New York and Philadelphia teams, which tend to run right down the Keith Line, as our analysis of NFL fandom from last year showed.

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The language divide

Language changes on either side of the Keith Line as well. This map, from a linguistics study by Dale Coye, a professor at the College of New Jersey shows how terms for common items change from north to south and east to west.

In Camden County, someone might have a hoagie and a water ice for lunch. In Essex, it would almost certainly be a sub and an Italian ice.

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It's all in the family

Family names get caught up in New Jersey's regional dispute as well. A map made from Coye's raw data shows those in the southern half of the state are more likely to use Pop-Pop and Mom-Mom instead of Grandma and Grandpa, when referring to their grandparents.

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Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Nothing's completely uniform, youse guys

There are always exceptions to every rule. While many stereotypes of New Jersey have pegged Garden Staters as using "youse guys," in place of "you guys" or "y'all," Coye's research shows this is generally only prevalent in southwestern New Jersey and Middlesex County.

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Groups within groups

Regional stereotypes and groups dig even deeper in New Jersey. In 2011, a map by Westfield resident Joe Steinfeld labeling dozens of sections of New Jersey went viral, and caused some uproar from people who found the tongue-in-cheek map offensive.

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The political divide

Politics is no stranger to the idea of North and South Jersey. Political figures like George Norcross III in the South and Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. in the North are long known to consolidate political power along regional lines.

Political fights often emerge, pitting regional factions against one another. The recent disputes over Atlantic City and the future of New Jersey gambling have been steeped in conflict between northern and southern New Jersey interests.

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South Jersey secession

South Jersey actually once voted to secede from the north in 1980. A call to secede by Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Ocean and Salem counties was approved by all but Ocean on election day (Gloucester and Camden counties opted against putting it on the ballot).

Had it moved forward, a the country's 51st state would have been created largely from what was once West Jersey in the 1600s.

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The convenience store divide

Even convenience stores have North and South Jersey loyalties. Wawa, a staple in South Jersey, has a passionate following as does Quick Chek in the north.

Both have scores of locations in their respective regions, which overlap in between Interstates 195 and 78. Recently, Wawa has been expanding up the state. New stores opening this summer will appear as far north as Bridgewater.

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The Great Taylor ham/pork roll divide

Some New Jersey disputes don't cut across the Keith Line. As our Taylor Ham vs. Pork Roll battle royal last week showed, the line separating New Jersey's salty meat specialty runs farther north than many other disputes in New Jersey.

Which begs the question...

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What about Central Jersey?

People from the area between Interstates 195 and 78 have long claimed to be their own enclave, and passionately. When we took at look at what constituted the boundaries of North-Central-South Jersey last year, people from Central Jersey overwhelmingly outranked their North and South Jersey compatriots at the polls.

A study like the Taylor ham/pork roll map lends the designation further credence.

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Why N.J. is so divided

NJ Advance Media reporters Stephen Stirling and Brian Donohue discuss the finer points of New Jersey's cultural divide.

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Read more N.J. data reporting

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