Where is Rhode Island?

Rhode Island is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 41.6567° N, 71.3651° W.

What is the largest city in Rhode Island?

Providence is the largest city mapped in Rhode Island, with a metropolitan population of about 1.28 million.

How many cities are in Rhode Island?

YearMaps maps 2 cities and towns in Rhode Island, with a combined metropolitan population of about 1.32 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.

Rhode Island Map — Cities & Geography, United States

Interactive Map of Rhode Island

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About Rhode Island

Rhode Island ( ROHD) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound; and shares a small maritime border with New York, east of Long Island. Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly more than 1.11 million residents as of 2025. The state's population, however, has continually recorded growth in every decennial census since 1790, and it is the second-most densely populated state after New Jersey. The state takes its name from the eponymous island, though most of its land area is on the mainland. Providence is its capital and most populous city.

Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century. Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies in having been founded by a refugee, Roger Williams, who fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty. He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes, creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker "Rogue's Island".

Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, on May 4, 1776. After the American Revolution, during which it was heavily occupied and contested, Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, on February 9, 1778.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Rhode Island (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Rhode Island in Depth

History

At the onset of European colonization what is now Rhode Island was inhabited mainly by five Native American tribes — by far most of the state's territory was inhabited by the Narragansett, eastern borderlands were occupied by the Wampanoag, south-western coast by the Niantic, western borderlands by the Pequot and northern borderlands by the Nipmuc. In 1636, Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views, and he settled at the top of Narragansett Bay on land sold or given to him by Narragansett sachem Canonicus. He named the site Providence, "having a sense of God's merciful providence unto me in my distress", and it became a place of religious freedom where all were welcome.

Geography

Rhode Island covers an area of 1,034 square miles (2,678 km2) within the New England region of the Northeastern United States and is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the west by Connecticut, and on the south by Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. It shares a narrow maritime border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island. The state's mean elevation is 200 feet (61 m). It is only 37 miles (60 km) wide and 48 miles (77 km) long, yet the state has a tidal shoreline on Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean of 384 miles (618 km).

Rhode Island is nicknamed the Ocean State and has a number of oceanfront beaches. It is mostly flat with no real mountains, and the state's highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill, 812 feet (247 m) above sea level.

Economy

The Blackstone River Valley was a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. It was in Pawtucket that Samuel Slater set up Slater Mill in 1793, using the waterpower of the Blackstone River to power his cotton mill. For a while, Rhode Island was one of the leaders in textiles. With the Great Depression, most textile factories relocated to southern U.S. states.

The textile industry still constitutes a part of the Rhode Island economy but does not have the same power.

Other important industries in Rhode Island's past included toolmaking, costume jewelry, and silverware. An interesting by-product of Rhode Island's industrial history is the number of abandoned factories, many of which are now condominiums, museums, offices, and low-income and elderly housing.

Demographics

At the 2020 U.S. census, Rhode Island's population was 1,097,379. The center of population of Rhode Island is in Providence County, in the city of Cranston. A corridor of population can be seen from the Providence area, stretching northwest following the Blackstone River to Woonsocket, where 19th-century mills drove industry and development.

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 1,577 homeless people in Rhode Island.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Rhode Island (CC BY-SA 4.0).

History of Rhode Island: Empires and States

The atlas records 5 polities whose mapped territory included part of Rhode Island, from Kingdom of England in 1645 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.

Polities that held Rhode Island, in chronological order
Polity	Period here
Kingdom of England	1645–1708 CE
English Colonial Empire	1645–1712 CE
British Colonial Empire	1709–1774 CE
The British Empire	1709–1774 CE
United States of America	1776–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Rhode Island

Rhode Island on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Visiting Rhode Island

Rhode Island (RI) is the smallest state of the United States of America, tucked between Massachusetts and Connecticut in New England. Nonetheless, it has over 400 mi (640 km) of coastline, courtesy of Narragansett Bay and islands such as Aquidneck Island, home to Newport, the "City by the Sea". While Rhode Island contains the name "island" in its name, most of its area is not on an island.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Rhode Island (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Largest Cities in Rhode Island

2 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Rhode Island
#	Name	Population	Region	Role
1	Providence	1.28 million	Rhode Island	Admin-1 capital
2	Newport	45,968	Rhode Island	Populated place

Ports in Rhode Island

5 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Ports in Rhode Island
#	Name	Channel Depth	Class	Sea	Max Vessel
1	Newport	49.4 m	Small	Atlantic Coast of the United States	medium vessels
2	Bristol	45.7 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of the United States	medium vessels
3	Tiverton	42.1 m	Small	Atlantic Coast of the United States	large vessels
4	Quonset Point	38.4 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of the United States	medium vessels
5	Davisville Depot	38.4 m	Very Small	Atlantic Coast of the United States	medium vessels

Rhode Island: Quick Answers

Where is Rhode Island?: Rhode Island is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 41.6567° N, 71.3651° W.
What is the largest city in Rhode Island?: Providence is the largest city mapped in Rhode Island, with a metropolitan population of about 1.28 million.
How many cities are in Rhode Island?: YearMaps maps 2 cities and towns in Rhode Island, with a combined metropolitan population of about 1.32 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.