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Rhode Island (/ˌrd-/ 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 fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020; but it has grown at every decennial count since 1790 and is the second-most densely populated state, after New Jersey. The state takes its name from the eponymous island, though nearly all its land area is on the mainland. Providence is its capital and most populous city.

Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years 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. Because its citizens favored a weaker central government, it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution, which it initially refused to ratify; it finally ratified it on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so.

The state was officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era but came to be commonly known as "Rhode Island". In November 2020, the state's voters approved an amendment to the state constitution formally dropping "and Providence Plantations" from its full name. Its official nickname is the "Ocean State", a reference to its 400 mi (640 km) of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14% of its area. (Full article...)

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Providence College is a private Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the local diocese, it offers 47 undergraduate majors and 17 graduate programs. The college requires all of its undergraduate students to complete 16 credits in the Development of Western Civilization, a major part of the college's core curriculum. In the spring of 2021, it enrolled 4,128 undergraduate students and 688 graduate students for a total enrollment of 4,816 students.

In athletics, Providence College competes in the NCAA's Division I and is a founding member of the original Big East Conference and Hockey East. It was part of the original six other basketball-centric Catholic colleges which broke off from the original Big East (today's American Athletic Conference) to form the current Big East at the start of the 2013–14 academic year. (Full article...)
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Pawtucket (/pəˈtʌkɪt/ pə-TUK-it) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls and Lincoln to the north, and North Providence to the west. The city also borders the Massachusetts municipalities of Seekonk and Attleboro.

Pawtucket was an early and important center of textile manufacturing. It is home to Slater Mill, a historic textile mill recognized for helping to found the Industrial Revolution in the United States. (Full article...)
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The Newport Cliff Walk is considered one of the top attractions in Newport, Rhode Island. It is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) public access walkway that borders the shore line, and it has been designated a National Recreation Trail.
The Newport Cliff Walk is considered one of the top attractions in Newport, Rhode Island. It is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) public access walkway that borders the shore line, and it has been designated a National Recreation Trail.
Credit: User:Jferro67

The Newport Cliff Walk is considered one of the top attractions in Newport, Rhode Island. It is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) public access walkway that borders the shore line, and it has been designated a National Recreation Trail.

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