The smallest U.S. state has the longest official name: “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”
Providence Plantations refers to the towns on the mainland.
The island of Rhode Island, now more commonly called Aquidneck, is the largest of thirty six islands, most of which are in Narragansett Bay, that also make up the state.
The city of Newport and two smaller towns are on the 44-square-mile (114-sq-km) island of Aquidneck.
The land area of the state of Rhode Island is 1,045 square miles (2,717 sq km), which is half the size of Delaware, the next smallest state.
With more than 400 miles (644 km) of shoreline, Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State.
