Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It 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 ...

is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

located in the Northeastern United States. According to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Rhode Island is the 8th least populous state with inhabitants and the smallest by land area spanning of land. It is divided into 39

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, including 8 cities and 31

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, grouped into 5 historical

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

that have no municipal functions as the state has no county level of government. The entire area of the state is incorporated; all Rhode Island residents live within the borders of a city or town though some communities within towns and cities are census-designated places. Municipalities in Rhode Island can incorporate as a town or city by a special act of the state legislature and there is no minimum population requirement. Eight municipalities were re-incorporated as cities operating under a charter, while the other 31 remain as towns which perform similar services. Since Rhode Island has no county level of government, cities and towns provide services commonly performed by county governments in other states. The state's cities and towns may adopt one of four forms of government: council–manager, mayor–council, town council–town meeting, or administrator–council. The primary difference between these forms of government is how the chief executive is selected. The Council–manager system involves an elected council who exercise overall control of the local government and a chief executive termed city or town manager who is generally appointed by and responsible to the council for the administration of local policies. Council–manager systems may elect a mayor but they have no formal administrative functions with the potential exception of a degree of veto power. Mayor–council systems have a similarly elected council however the mayor is elected and yields administrative power. In the town council–

town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

system, there is no full-time chief executive. The largest municipality by population in Rhode Island is the state capital of Providence, with 190,934 residents. The smallest municipality by population is New Shoreham on Block Island, with 1,410 year-round residents. The largest municipality by land area is

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

which spans , while Central Falls is the smallest at . Rhode Island and Hawaii are the only two states in which all of the municipalities have a population greater than 1,000 people.

Cities and towns

File:Downtown Providence Rhode Island 2008.jpg, alt=The skyline of Providence, Downtown Providence, the capital and most populous city in Rhode Island File:Pawtuxet Neck - Cranston RI Aerial (25669074358).jpg, alt=A view over Cranston, A view over Cranston, the second most populous city in Rhode Island File:Warwick (Rhode Island, USA) -- 2006 -- 6.jpg, alt=Boats and waterfront homes in Warwick, Boats and homes in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, the third most populous city in Rhode Island File:Pawtucket City Hall RI.jpg, alt=Pawtucket city hall, The city hall of Pawtucket, the fourth most populous city in Rhode Island

Notes

References

External links

RI.gov: Complete List of all 39 Cities & Towns in Rhode Island
{{featured list 01 . .

Municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Cities and towns

See also

Notes

References

External links