Rhode Island
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Rhode Island is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area. By land, Rhode Island borders Connecticut to the west, and Massachusetts to the north and east. By sea, Rhode Island also borders New York to the southwest.
Despite being called Rhode Island in common usage, most of the state is on the North American continental mainland. The name Rhode Island derives from the colonial-era name for what is now known as Aquidneck Island - which now comprises the city of Newport and the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth - the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay. Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen original American colonies to declare independence from British rule and the last to ratify the United States Constitution.
Rhode Island's official nickname is "the Ocean State", a reference to state's geography as nearly one tenth of Rhode Island's inland area is covered by salt water. No resident of the state is more than a thirty-minute drive from the water's edge.Unofficially and in other parts of the country, Rhode Island is referred to as Little Rhody.
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Geography
The smallest of the 50 states, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations covers an area of approximately 1,545 square miles (4,002 km²) 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. 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 (60 m).
Nicknamed the Ocean State, Rhode Island is home to a number of oceanfront beaches. It is mostly flat with no real mountains and the states highest natural point is Jerimoth Hill, only 812 feet (247 m) above sea level.
Located within the New England province of the Appalachian Region, 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. Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. Block Island lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) off the southern coast of the mainland. Within the Bay, there are over 30 islands. 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.
A rare type of rock called Cumberlandite, found only in Rhode Island (specifically in the town of Cumberland), is the state rock. There were initially two known deposits of the mineral, but since it is an ore of iron, one of the deposits was almost completely mined out in the American Civil War[citation needed] in order to make cannons.
Climate
Rhode Island is an example of a warm summer humid continental climate with hot, rainy summers and chilly winters. The highest temperature recorded in Rhode Island was 104 °F (40 °C), recorded on August 2, 1975 in Providence. The lowest recorded temperature in Rhode Island was -23°F, on January 11, 1942 in Kingston. Monthly average temperatures range from a high of 83 °F (28 °C) to a low of 20 °F (-7 °C).
Demographics
The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Providence County, in the city of Cranston. A corridor of population can be seen from the Providence area, stretching northwest following the Blackstone River to Woonsocket, where nineteenth-century mills drive industry and development. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, Rhode Island had an estimated population of 1,076,189, which is a decrease of 3,727, or 0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 27,870, or 2.7%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 15,220 people (that is 66,973 births minus 51,753 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 14,001 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 18,965 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 4,964 people.
The six largest ancestry groups in Rhode Island are: Italian (19%), Irish (19%), French Canadian (17.3%),[37] English (12%), Hispanic 11% (predominantly Puerto Rican and Dominican, with smaller Central American populations), [1] Portuguese (8.7%).
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 8.07% of the population aged 5 and over speaks Spanish at home, while 3.80% speaks Portuguese, 1.96% French, and 1.39% Italian .
6.1% of Rhode Island's population were reported as under 5, 23.6% under 18, and 14.5% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 52% of the population.
Rhode Island has a higher percentage of Americans of Portuguese ancestry (who dominate Bristol County), including Portuguese Americans and Cape Verdean Americans than any other state in the nation. French Canadians form a large part of northern Providence County whereas Irish Americans have a strong presence in Newport and Kent counties. Yankees of English ancestry still have a presence in the state as well, especially in Washington county, and are often referred to as "Swamp Yankees." African immigrants, including Liberian Americans, Nigerian Americans and Ghanaian Americans, form significant and growing communities in Rhode Island.
Economy
The Blackstone River Valley is known as the "Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution". It was in Pawtucket that Samuel Slater set up Slater Mill in 1793, using the waterpower of the Blackstone River to power his cotton mill. For a while, Rhode Island was one of the leaders in textiles. However, with the Great Depression, most textile factories relocated to the American South. The textile industry still constitutes a part of the Rhode Island economy, but does not have the same power that it once had. Other important industries in Rhode Island's past included toolmaking, costume jewelry and silverware. An interesting by-product of Rhode Island's industrial history is the amount of abandoned factories - many of them now being used for low-income or elderly housing, or converted into offices or condominiums. Today, much of the economy of state is based in services, particularly healthcare and education, and still to some extent, manufacturing.
The headquarters of Citizens Financial Group, a 160 billion dollar banking corporation which operates in many parts of the US, is located in Providence. The Fortune 500 companies CVS and Textron are based in Woonsocket and Providence, respectively. FM Global, Hasbro, American Power Conversion, Nortek, and Amica Mutual Insurance are all Fortune 1000 companies based in Rhode Island. The GTECH Corporation is headquartered in Providence.
Rhode Island's 2000 total gross state product was $33 billion, placing it 45th in the nation. Its 2000 per capita personal income was $29,685, 16th in the nation. Rhode Island has the lowest level of energy consumption per capita of any state.
Health services are Rhode Island's largest industry. Second is tourism, supporting 39,000 jobs, with tourism-related sales at $3.26 billion in the year 2000. The third-largest industry is manufacturing.[34] Its industrial outputs are fashion jewelry, fabricated metal products, electrical equipment, machinery, shipbuilding and boatbuilding. Rhode Island's agricultural outputs are nursery stock, vegetables, dairy products and eggs.
The state's taxes are appreciably higher than neighboring states.[26] Governor Carcieri has claimed that this higher tax rate has had an inhibitory effect on business growth in the state and is calling for reductions to increase the competitiveness of the state's business environment. Rhode Island's income tax is based on 25% of the payer's federal income tax payment.
