What is the smallest state?

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States by area, covering only about 1,545 square miles total (1,212 square miles of land plus about 500 square miles of water in Narragansett Bay), making it about one five hundredth the size of Alaska, the largest state. The full official name of Rhode Island until 2020 was the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the longest of any state, although a 2020 referendum dropped the and Providence Plantations portion because of its association with slavery.

The state was founded by Roger Williams at Providence in 1636 after he was banished from Massachusetts Bay for advocating religious freedom and separation of church from state. Williams obtained a parliamentary patent in 1644 and a royal charter from King Charles II on July 8, 1663 that made Rhode Island the first American colony to guarantee religious freedom in its founding documents. The colony was a refuge for Quakers, Baptists, Jews (including the founders of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, the oldest synagogue building in North America, dedicated 1763), and other religious dissenters.

Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776, two months before the Declaration of Independence, but was the last of the original 13 to ratify the U.S. Constitution on May 29, 1790. Rhode Island became the 13th state.

The state measures only about 48 miles north to south and 37 miles east to west. The geography is dominated by Narragansett Bay, which divides the state into mainland and several islands, including Aquidneck Island (the largest, containing Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth), Conanicut Island (containing Jamestown), and Block Island (about 12 miles south of the coast). Aquidneck Island was originally called the Isle of Rhodes by the Dutch, possibly the source of the state name, although some scholars trace it to Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano's 1524 comparison of Block Island to the Greek island of Rhodes.

The capital is Providence, which is also the largest city. Newport, on Aquidneck Island, was the colonial capital and remains a famous historical and resort city. The state population in the 2020 census was 1,097,379, ranking 44th. Despite its small size, Rhode Island has a population density of about 1,021 per square mile, second highest after New Jersey.

The state's economy historically rested on textiles (Samuel Slater established the first American textile mill at Pawtucket in 1790), the navy (Naval Station Newport since 1869), tourism, and education (Brown University founded 1764 as the College of Rhode Island).