[1] Some sources say that the name is derived from one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York City), Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Norway, who arrived in New Netherland in 1633.

[16][17] At the time of first European contact, Bergen County was inhabited by Native American people, particularly the Lenape Nation, whose subgroups included the Tappan, Hackensack, and Rumachenanck (later called the Haverstraw), as named by the Dutch colonists.

[31][35] In 1852, the Erie Railroad began operating major rail services from Jersey City on the Hudson River to points north and west via leased right-of-way in the county.

[39] The explosion is believed to have been an act of sabotage by German agents, as the munitions in question were destined for Russia, part of the U.S.'s effort to supply allies before entrance into World War I.

[43] In 1955, the United States Army established a Nike Missile station at Campgaw Mountain (in the west of the county) for the defense of the New York Metropolitan Area from strategic bombers.

Using the 0 °C January isotherm, most of Bergen has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) except for higher areas in the Ramapo Mountains, which are Dfb, and along the Hudson River from Fort Lee downward, where Cfa exists.

[10] Given its location as a suburban extension of Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge,[56] Bergen County has evolved a globally cosmopolitan ambience of its own, demonstrating a robust and growing demographic and cultural diversity with respect to metrics including nationality, religion, race, and domiciliary partnership.

[67] Since 2000, an increasing number of immigrants from other countries (including Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Chile) as well as from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico have entered the county.

[73] Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Englewood, and Bergenfield in particular have become havens for Bergen County's growing Orthodox Jewish communities, with a rising number of synagogues as well as supermarkets and restaurants offering kosher foods.

All of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population in 2010 were located in Bergen County,[78] including Palisades Park, Leonia, Ridgefield, Fort Lee, Closter, Englewood Cliffs, Norwood, Edgewater, Cresskill, and Demarest, closely followed by Old Tappan.

[93] South Korean chaebols have established North American headquarters operations in Bergen County, including Samsung,[94] LG Corp,[95] and Hanjin Shipping.

[101] Subsequently, in March 2012, leaders from Bergen County's Korean community announced they would form a grassroots political action committee to gain an organized voice in politics in the wake of the rejection of attorney Phillip Kwon to the New Jersey Supreme Court by a state legislative body,[102] and in July 2012, Kwon was appointed instead as deputy general counsel of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

[58] The community's cultural and commercial heart has long been centered in Wallington, where 45.5% of the population is of Polish descent; this is the largest concentration among New Jersey municipalities and the seventh-highest in the United States.

[112] The county's African American community is almost entirely concentrated in three municipalities: Englewood (10,215 residents, accounting for 38.98% of the city's total population), Teaneck (11,298; 28.78%), and Hackensack (10,518; 24.65%).

The biggest clusters of Indian Americans are located in Hackensack,[118] Ridgewood,[119] Fair Lawn,[120] Paramus,[121] Teaneck,[122] Mahwah,[123] Bergenfield,[124] Lodi,[125] and Elmwood Park.

[132] The affluent municipalities of northern Bergen County are witnessing significant growth in their Indian American communities, including Glen Rock, into which up to 90% of this constituency was estimated by one member in 2014 to have moved within the preceding two-year period alone.

[155] Bergen County's culturally active Filipino community repatriated significant financial assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which ravaged the Philippines in November 2013.

[156] In 2021, the multinational conglomerate Jollibee restaurant chain based in Metro Manila, planned to open its first Bergen County location in East Rutherford.

Adjacent Edgewater has also developed an active Japanese American community, particularly after the construction of the largest Japanese-oriented commercial center on the U.S. East Coast in this borough.

The Access to the Region's Core rail tunnel project would have allowed many Bergen County railway commuters a one-seat ride into Manhattan but was canceled in October 2010.

In September 2014, the Englewood-based Northern New Jersey Community Foundation announced an initiative known as ArtsBergen, a centralizing body with the goal of connecting artists and arts organizations with one another in Bergen County.

[262] In March 2023, Rafael Marte was selected to fill the seat expiring in December 2023 that had been held by Ramon Hache until he resigned from office earlier that month.

[263] In 2014, Freeholder James Tedesco challenged incumbent Kathleen Donovan on a platform that highlighted his own plan to merge the Bergen County Police Department with the sheriff's office, as well as Donovan's connections to recent scandals in the New Jersey state government, including the nationally reported "Bridgegate" scandal and alleged campaign finance abuse among her staff.

Incumbent Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire also failed in his bid for a third term as Emerson Police Chief Mike Saudino defeated him.

Mirroring the national "suburban revolt" against President Donald Trump, Democratic candidate Joe Biden made significant gains in the northern portion of the county, winning in many affluent and typically Republican voting communities, such as River Vale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ramsey, Allendale, Hillsdale, and Montvale, winning in Upper Saddle River by a mere 2 vote margin.

There was a 10-year period in which many of Bergen County's townships disappeared into the patchwork of boroughs that exist today, before the state laws governing municipal incorporation were changed.

[31] The Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated that the county's gross domestic product was $81.5 billion in 2022, which was ranked first in the state and was a 1.2% increase from the prior year.

However, Mercedes-Benz USA also stated its intent to maintain its Northeast regional headquarters in Montvale and to build a "state-of-the-art" assemblage training center in the borough as well.

Paramus has enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced by Bergen County,[318] banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays, including white collar workers in office buildings.

[320] In November 2012, Governor Chris Christie issued an executive order to temporarily suspend the blue law due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.