Rhode Island is the 13^th state in the USA; it became a state on May 29, 1790. In 1524 the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazano,

while sailing for France, was the first European to explore Rhode Island.  By comparing Block Island with the Mediterranean island Rhodes, he gave it its name.

The smallest state in the union, Rhode Island is about 40 miles long and 30 miles wide.

Much of Rhode Island is woodland; lowlands in the south and rolling hills in the north and the west.