Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of

Narragansett Bay in 1524 which he likened to the island of Rhodes (part of modern
Greece).[20] Subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the
island that Verrazzano had named, but the Pilgrims who later colonized the area
assumed that it was Aquidneck.[21]
Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck during his expeditions in the 1610s, and he
described it in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance,"
which was "een rodlich Eylande" in 17th-century Dutch, and one popular notion is
that this Dutch phrase might have influenced the name Rhode Island.[22][23]
(Historians have theorized that this "reddish appearance" resulted from either red
autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore.)[24]

Verrazzano Monument, Providence, Rhode Island

The earliest documented use of the name "Rhode Island" for Aquidneck was in 1637 by
Roger Williams. The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these
words: "Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island."
The name "Isle of Rodes" is used in a legal document as late as 1646.[25][26] Dutch
maps as early as 1659 call the island "Red Island" (Roodt Eylant).
Roger Williams was a theologian who was forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
seeking religious and political tolerance. He and others founded Providence
Plantation as a free proprietary colony. "Providence" referred to the concept of
divine providence, and "plantation" was an English term for a colony. "State of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" is the longest official name of any state
in the Union.
2009 contestation of the name[edit]
In recent years, the presence of the word plantation in the state's name became a
sufficiently contested issue that the Rhode Island General Assembly voted on June
25, 2009 to hold a general referendum determining whether "and Providence
Plantations" would be dropped from the official name. Advocates for excising
plantation asserted that the word symbolized an alleged legacy of
"disenfranchisement" for many Rhode Islanders, as well as the proliferation of
slavery in the colonies and in the post-colonial United States. (Rhode Island
abolished slavery in 1652, but the law was not enforced and, by the early 18th
century, it was "the epicenter of the North American slave trade", according to the
Brown Daily Herald.)[27][28] Advocates for retaining the name argued that
plantation was simply an archaic synonym for colony and bore no relation to
slavery. The referendum election was held on November 2, 2010, and the people voted
overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) to retain the entire original name.[29]
Geography[edit]
Further information: List of counties in Rhode Island
Further information: Geology of New England

Terrain map of Rhode Island

Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles (3,144 km2) located within the
New England Region, 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.
[2] It shares a narrow maritime border with New York State between Block Island and
Long Island. The mean elevation of the state 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).[30]
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.[31]
Rhode Island has two distinct natural regions. Eastern Rhode Island contains the
lowlands of the Narragansett Bay, while Western Rhode Island forms part of the New
England Upland. Rhode Island's forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests
ecoregion.[32]
Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. There are more than
30 islands within the bay. The largest is Aquidneck Island, shared by the
municipalities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. The second-largest island is
Conanicut; the third-largest is Prudence. Block Island lies about 12 miles (19 km)
off the southern coast of the mainland and separates Block Island Sound and the
Atlantic Ocean proper.[33][34]
A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite is found only in Rhode Island
(specifically in the town oExplorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an
island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay in 1524 which he likened to the island of
Rhodes (part of modern Greece).[20] Subsequent European explorers were unable to
precisely identify the island that Verrazzano had named, but the Pilgrims who later
colonized the area assumed that it was Aquidneck.[21]
Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck during his expeditions in the 1610s, and he
described it in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance,"
which was "een rodlich Eylande" in 17th-century Dutch, and one popular notion is
that this Dutch phrase might have influenced the name Rhode Island.[22][23]
(Historians have theorized that this "reddish appearance" resulted from either red
autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore.)[24]

Verrazzano Monument, Providence, Rhode Island

The earliest documented use of the name "Rhode Island" for Aquidneck was in 1637 by
Roger Williams. The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these
words: "Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island."
The name "Isle of Rodes" is used in a legal document as late as 1646.[25][26] Dutch
maps as early as 1659 call the island "Red Island" (Roodt Eylant).
Roger Williams was a theologian who was forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
seeking religious and political tolerance. He and others founded Providence
Plantation as a free proprietary colony. "Providence" referred to the concept of
divine providence, and "plantation" was an English term for a colony. "State of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" is the longest official name of any state
in the Union.
2009 contestation of the name[edit]
In recent years, the presence of the word plantation in the state's name became a
sufficiently contested issue that the Rhode Island General Assembly voted on June
25, 2009 to hold a general referendum determining whether "and Providence
Plantations" would be dropped from the official name. Advocates for excising
plantation asserted that the word symbolized an alleged legacy of
"disenfranchisement" for many Rhode Islanders, as well as the proliferation of
slavery in the colonies and in the post-colonial United States. (Rhode Island
abolished slavery in 1652, but the law was not enforced and, by the early 18th
century, it was "the epicenter of the North American slave trade", according to the
Brown Daily Herald.)[27][28] Advocates for retaining the name argued that
plantation was simply an archaic synonym for colony and bore no relation to
slavery. The referendum election was held on November 2, 2010, and the people voted
overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) to retain the entire original name.[29]
Geography[edit]
Further information: List of counties in Rhode Island
Further information: Geology of New England
Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of
Narragansett Bay in 1524 which he likened to the island of Rhodes (part of modern
Greece).[20] Subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the
island that Verrazzano had named, but the Pilgrims who later colonized the area
assumed that it was Aquidneck.[21]
Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck during his expeditions in the 1610s, and he
described it in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance,"
which was "een rodlich Eylande" in 17th-century Dutch, and one popular notion is
that this Dutch phrase might have influenced the name Rhode Island.[22][23]
(Historians have theorized that this "reddish appearance" resulted from either red
autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore.)[24]

Verrazzano Monument, Providence, Rhode Island

The earliest documented use of the name "Rhode Island" for Aquidneck was in 1637 by
Roger Williams. The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these
words: "Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island."
The name "Isle of Rodes" is used in a legal document as late as 1646.[25][26] Dutch
maps as early as 1659 call the island "Red Island" (Roodt Eylant).
Roger Williams was a theologian who was forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
seeking religious and political tolerance. He and others founded Providence
Plantation as a free proprietary colony. "Providence" referred to the concept of
divine providence, and "plantation" was an English term for a colony. "State of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" is the longest official name of any state
in the Union.
2009 contestation of the name[edit]
In recent years, the presence of the word plantation in the state's name became a
sufficiently contested issue that the Rhode Island General Assembly voted on June
25, 2009 to hold a general referendum determining whether "and Providence
Plantations" would be dropped from the official name. Advocates for excising
plantation asserted that the word symbolized an alleged legacy of
"disenfranchisement" for many Rhode Islanders, as well as the proliferation of
slavery in the colonies and in the post-colonial United States. (Rhode Island
abolished slavery in 1652, but the law was not enforced and, by the early 18th
century, it was "the epicenter of the North American slave trade", according to the
Brown Daily Herald.)[27][28] Advocates for retaining the name argued that
plantation was simply an archaic synonym for colony and bore no relation to
slavery. The referendum election was held on November 2, 2010, and the people voted
overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) to retain the entire original name.[29]
Geography[edit]
Further information: List of counties in Rhode Island
Further information: Geology of New England

Terrain map of Rhode Island

Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles (3,144 km2) located within the
New England Region, 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.
[2] It shares a narrow maritime border with New York State between Block Island and
Long Island. The mean elevation of the state 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).[30]
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.[31]
Rhode Island has two distinct natural regions. Eastern Rhode Island contains the
lowlands of the Narragansett Bay, while Western Rhode Island forms part of the New
England Upland. Rhode Island's forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests
ecoregion.[32]
Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. There are more than
30 islands within the bay. The largest is Aquidneck Island, shared by the
municipalities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. The second-largest island is
Conanicut; the third-largest is Prudence. Block Island lies about 12 miles (19 km)
off the southern coast of the mainland and separates Block Island Sound and the
Atlantic Ocean proper.[33][34]
A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite is found only in Rhode Island
(specifically in the town of Cumberland) and is the state rock. There were
initially two known deposits of the mineral, but it is an ore of iron and one of
the deposits was extensively mined for its ferrous content.[35]
Terrain map of Rhode Island
Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles (3,144 km2) located within the
New England Region, 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.
[2] It shares a narrow maritime border with New York State between Block Island and
Long Island. The mean elevation of the state 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).[30]
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.[31]
Rhode Island has two distinct natural regions. Eastern Rhode Island contains the
lowlands of the Narragansett Bay, while Western Rhode Island forms part of the New
England Upland. Rhode Island's forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests
ecoregion.[32]
Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. There are more than
30 islands within the bay. The largest is Aquidneck Island, shared by the
municipalities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. The second-largest island is
Conanicut; the third-largest is Prudence. Block Island lies about 12 miles (19 km)
off the southern coast of the mainland and separates Block Island Sound and the
Atlantic Ocean proper.[33][34]
A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite is found only in Rhode Island
(specifically in the town of Cumberland) and is the state rock. There were
initially two known deposits of the mineral, but it is an ore of iron and one of
the deposits was extensively mined for its ferrous content.[35] f Cumberland) and
is the state rock. There were initially two known deposits of the mineral, but it
is an ore of iron and one of the deposits was extensively mined for its ferrous
content.[35]