Rhode Island

Territory (land area)	1,045 sq miles = 2,706 sq kms (Ranks 50^th among states)
Population (July 2005 estimate):	1,076,189
Admitted:	May 29, 1790, as the 13th state of the US
Capital:	Providence
Largest city (incl. metropolitan area):	Providence
Abbreviation:	RI
Nickname:	The Ocean State
Region:	New England

Rhode Island is rarely noted among US states except for two reasons: on the one hand, because it has always been the smallest US state (by territory but not by population), and on the other hand, because its foundation is an interesting episode of New England history. The capital of the present state was founded by a Puritan minister, Roger Williams, in 1636, after he was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for preaching against the Congregationalist orthodoxy. Williams argued for the separation of church and state (so Puritan magistrates should not have the power to exercise a moral dictatorship over ordinary people), a complete break with the Church of England (formally, Congregationalists remained part of the Anglican church), and criticized the practice of seizing the land of the Indians.

When he was forced to leave Massachusetts with his followers, Williams moved south of Cape Cod and purchased a piece of land from the local Indians, where he founded the town of Providence. The most important rule of the new settlement was religious freedom – all groups were free to follow their own version of Christian faith, no Puritan orthodoxy was made official. Other religious dissidents followed Williams and founded other towns on a nearby island. Out of these settlements, two separate colonies, Providence and Rhode Island, emerged, which were ultimately united in 1663 under the name Rhode Island. But most of the state is actually on the mainland.