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How big is Rhode Island?

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Rhode Island

Rhode Island is the smallest of the 50 states of the United States by area. It is about 77 kilometers (48 miles) long from north to south and about 60 kilometers (37 miles) wide from east to west. Its capital and largest city is Providence.

Size

The state government gives Rhode Island's size as 48 miles from north to south and 37 miles from east to west. The state is not a neat rectangle. Narragansett Bay reaches far into it: the middle of the bay is only about 19 kilometers (12 miles) south of Providence.

Area is a different measurement from length. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Rhode Island covers 4,001 square kilometers (1,545 square miles) in all. Only 2,678 square kilometers (1,034 square miles) of that is land. The rest, about a third of the total, is water.

Size comparisons

  • A car driving at 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) would cross Rhode Island from north to south in about 46 minutes.
  • The state's north–south length is about 1.8 times the distance of a marathon, 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles).
  • Texas has about 250 times as much land area as Rhode Island.
  • Alaska, the largest state by area, has about 550 times as much land area as Rhode Island.
  • If Earth were shrunk to the size of a basketball, Rhode Island would be a speck about 1.5 millimeters long.

Narragansett Bay and the shore

Three islands, Prudence, Patience and Hope, sit in the middle of Narragansett Bay, halfway between Providence and the city of Newport. Patience and Hope have no people living on them.

The bay and its islands give Rhode Island a long shoreline for its size. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) measures it at 618 kilometers (384 miles). That count follows every bay, island and river as far inland as the tide reaches. It is eight times the state's north–south length.

A small state with many people

The 2020 census counted 1,097,379 people in Rhode Island, about 410 for every square kilometer of land (1,061 per square mile). The state has no county governments. It is divided into 39 cities and towns, each with its own form of local government.

The highest point in Rhode Island, Jerimoth Hill, is 247 meters (812 feet) above sea level. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies to become a state.

Sources

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