[25] Located on the eastern end of the Somerset Hills region,[26] the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the much larger New York metropolitan area, located within the Raritan Valley region.

[28] A set of referendums to create independent boroughs from portions of Bernards Township were held in June 1921, which would have left only Liberty Corner and Lyons remaining in Bernards Township if all three proposals had been approved; The referendum in Far Hills passed and the vote in Bernardsville failed in 1921, but ultimately passed in 1924.

[30] Voters rejected the creation of proposed borough of Basking Ridge by a more than 4–1 margin.

[31] The township was named for Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, who served as governor of the Province of New Jersey.

[1][2] The township is roughly bounded by the Second Watchung Mountain in the southwest, the Dead River swamp on the south, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Passaic River, and Millington Gorge in the east.

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Basking Ridge, Franklin Corners, Green Knoll, Hardscrabble, Liberty Corner, Lyons, Madisonville, Mount Horeb, Somerset Mills, State Park, Stone House and White Bridge.

[36][37][38] The 2010 United States census counted 26,652 people, 9,783 households, and 6,897 families in the township.

[50] At the 2000 United States census[19] there were 24,575 people, 9,242 households and 6,487 families residing in the township.

[48][49] The headquarters of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Fedders, Hitachi Power Systems USA[51] and Verizon Wireless are located in the township.

[61] Prior to the 2010 Census, Bernards Township had been part of the 11th Congressional District, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.

[62] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 7th congressional district is represented by Thomas Kean Jr. (R, Westfield).

[64] For the 2024-2025 session, the 21st legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Jon Bramnick (R, Westfield) and in the General Assembly by Michele Matsikoudis (R, New Providence) and Nancy Munoz (R, Summit).

[82] Among the township's 2010 Census population, 69.0% (vs. 60.4% in Somerset County) were registered to vote, including 96.9% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 80.4% countywide).

[101][102][103][104] The district offers its Integrated Preschool Program for children on the autism spectrum, utilizing the principles of applied behavior analysis.

Pingry School, a private coeducational college preparatory day school, has its upper campus, for grades 6 to 12, located in Basking Ridge (prior to 2013 the campus was listed as being located in Martinsville).

[126] In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, which had a devastating effect on the Greater New Orleans area, the Bernards Township Regional Chamber of Commerce, under the leadership of former Mayor Albert LiCata, organized and sent truckloads of supplies to assist residents of Houma, Louisiana.

In 2007, the Parish returned the favor by sending the Terrebonne High School Marching band on a 26-hour bus ride to the Bernards Township Chamber's Holiday Parade to march at their event and perform a Christmas concert for the public at a local church.

[134] On November 22, 2016, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Bernards Township, alleging "that the township violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) when it denied zoning approval to allow the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge to build a mosque on land it owns.