The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (commonly known
as Rhode Island) is geographically the smallest state in the United
States, and the state with the longest official name.
Rhode (pronounced
"Road") Island is part of the New England region, and was one of the
thirteen original American colonies that declared independence against
British rule to begin the American Revolution.
The state's common name, Rhode Island, actually refers to the largest
island in Narragansett Bay, also known as Aquidneck Island, on which the
city of Newport is located. The origin of the name is unclear. Some
historians think that Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon
discovering Block Island, just southwest in the Atlantic Ocean, named it
Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the Greek island of
Rhodes. Later settlers, mistaking which island Verrazzano was referring
to, gave the name to Aquidneck Island instead. Other historians believe
that the name is derived from Roodt Eylandt, Dutch for "red island,"
given to the island by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block due to the red clay
on the island's shore.
Despite the fact that most of the state is part of the mainland, the
name Rhode Island leads some out-of-staters to erroneously believe that
the entire state is an island. Nicknamed "The Ocean State," every point
in the state is within 30 miles of sea water.
