Rhode Island

I

Introduction

Rhode Island, in full, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one of the New England states of the United States, bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts; on the south by Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound (arms of the Atlantic Ocean); and on the west by Connecticut. Narragansett Bay deeply indents the south-eastern part of the state. The Pawcatuck River forms part of the south-western boundary.

Rhode Island entered the Union on May 29, 1790, as the last of the 13 original states (although it had been the first to declare independence in 1776). One of the first non-Native American settlers in the area of Rhode Island had been the religious leader Roger Williams, who in 1636 founded Providence, now the state capital. In the late 18th century the first US textile mill driven by water-power was built in Rhode Island. In the early 1990s manufacturing was the state’s second leading economic activity, exceeded only by the service sector. The origin of the state’s name is unclear; it may refer to the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea or derive from a Dutch word meaning “red”. Rhode Island is known as the “Ocean State” or “Little Rhody”.

II

Land and Resources

With an area of 3,188 sq km (1,231 sq mi), Rhode Island is the smallest US state. The state is roughly rectangular; its extreme north to south distance is 98 km (61 mi), and its extreme east to west distance is 64 km (40 mi). Rhode Island includes about 35 islands, most of which are in Narragansett Bay in the south-east. Larger islands are Rhode Island (Aquidneck), Conanicut Island, Prudence Island, and Block Island (New Shoreham).

A

Physical Geography

The landscape of Rhode Island can be divided into two major regions: the Seaboard Lowland, which includes the Atlantic coast area and the Narragansett Lowland or Basin, and the Eastern New England Upland, in the west. Facing the Atlantic in Rhode Island is a nearly unbroken line of beaches. The Eastern New England Upland in Rhode Island is a region of low hills and a few small lakes.

Chief rivers include the Providence and Seekonk system, the Sakonnet, Blackstone, Hunt, Pawtuxet, Pettaquamscutt, Potowomut, and Woonasquatucket, and the Pawcatuck. The state has many small natural lakes and ponds. The biggest body of fresh water is Scituate Reservoir, formed by Kent Dam on the Pawtuxet River.

B

Climate

The climate of Rhode Island is milder than that of the other New England states, with few extremes of heat or cold. The recorded temperature in Rhode Island has ranged from -30.6° C (-23° F), in 1942 at Kingston, to 40° C (104° F), in 1975 at Providence. Coastal areas are occasionally struck by damaging hurricanes.