The state of Rhode Island, which is called "The Ocean State," is located in the New England region of the United States and has some seacoast along the Atlantic ocean. The state's capital, Providence, sits on Narraganset Bay at the mouth of the Providence River. With a total of 1,045 square miles (2,706 square kilometers), it is also the country's smallest state. The entire population of the city of Providence itself is just over 175,000 people, and its surrounding area has a total population of nearly 2 million people according the latest count in 2009, making it one of the most populous cities in New England. It has an ever changing demographic making it very culturally diverse. Being that it is a New England coastal region, Providence can have a humid tropical summer, which can produce heavy rains, and cold winters which are frequently visited by systems called Nor'easters that bring with them heavy snow and blizzard conditions. Hurricanes are very infrequent visitors, but Providence's location on the Bay can make it a more likely area for one to occur on the Northeastern coast.
The state of Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams and has a history of being a place for religious refugees, as he himself was a refugee from the neighboring state of Massachusetts where he has suffered religious persecution. The city of Providence was founded in 1636 and in 1772, at the Gaspee Affair, it was the residents of Providence who spilled the first British blood during the Revolutionary War. During the war, Brown University was used as a hospital. As with everywhere else in the United States during the Civil War, there were political struggles due to the need for southern cotton and the new manufacturing plants of the north. Volunteers from Rhode Island commonly went over quota and it was shortly after this time that the jobs at the manufacturing plants and arrival of the horse car lines brought many new immigrants to the area causing a population boom from near 55,000 to just over 175,000 people by 1900.
A visitor to Providence, Rhode Island today can find several historical landmarks, such as Brown University and the spot which Roger Williams worshiped in the Providence, Rhode Island business directory and these places can be contacted by looking them up in the Providence, Rhode Island yellow pages.
Written by Lyndsey Morgan
