State of the United States

Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a state of the United States. It covers about 2,830 km² (1,090 mi²), the 50th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Samoa. About 1.1 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).

In area1.02×the size ofSamoa2,780 km² In people0.95×as many people asDjibouti1.2 million

50 km

Rhode Island
Samoa

Facts

Area, measured	2,830 km²1,090 mi²
Official area	3,140 km²Wikidata · 9.9% above our measure
Share of the United States	less than 0.1%of the area of the 51 states and districts
Rank by area	50th of 51states and districts of the United States
Population	1.1 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit
Density	387 people per km²
Capital	Providence
Latitude range	41°N to 42°N
Type	StateUS-RI

What the numbers say about Rhode Island

Rhode Island covers less than 0.1% of the area of the United States and ranks 43rd of 51 by population, against 50th by area.
It would take 3,341 states and districts the size of Rhode Island to cover the United States.
Rhode Island holds 0.3% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 302.
The largest, Alaska, is 531× the size of Rhode Island; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 5.7% of it.
Closest in size within the United States: Delaware (5,170 km², 1.83×) and Connecticut (12,700 km², 4.49×).
Counted as a country, Rhode Island would be larger than 61 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 179th by area, between Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (3,320 km²) and Samoa (2,780 km²).
With 1.1 million people it would rank 162nd of 238 by population.
Rhode Island has 387 people per km², about the density of Belgium, which has 386 per km².
That makes Rhode Island the 3rd most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 11.1× the average for the United States (35 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 42°N is drawn about 1.8× too large in area, so Rhode Island looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Rhode Island stretches about 97 km north to south and 63 km east to west.
Our measured 2,830 km² is 9.9% below Wikidata's official figure of 3,140 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Where Rhode Island ranks

Rhode Island is the 50th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.

Ranked within the United States

All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries

Compare Rhode Island

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method