Rhode Island was the 13th state
in the USA; it became a state on May 29, 1790 .
State Abbreviation - RI
State Capital - Providence
Largest City - Providence
Area - 1,545 square miles square miles [Rhode Island is the
smallest state in the USA]
Population - 1,048,319 (as of 2000) [Rhode Island is the 43rd
most populous state in the USA]
Major Industries - textiles, jewelry, rubber products, machinery,
tourism
Major Rivers - Sakonnet River
Major Lakes - Scituate Reservoir
Highest Point - Jerimoth Hill - 812 feet (247 m) above sea
level
Bordering States - Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York (water
border)
Bordering Bodies of Water - Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
Sound, Atlantic Ocean
Origin of the Name Rhode Island
- Rhode Island was either named for the Isle of Rhodes (in
the Mediterranean Sea) or for its red clay (the Dutch explorer
Adriaen Block may have named it "Rood Eylandt" meaning
Red Island, in Dutch).
State Nickname - The Ocean State, Little Rhody
State Motto - "Hope"
State Song - Rhode Island, It's for Me
Rhode Island Cities |