Measuring only 40 miles in length and 30 miles in width, Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States. Known as the Ocean State and popularly as “Little Rhody,” the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as it is officially known, is densely populated, recording a population of 626,667 in the 2010 census. State population has been declining in recent years, and this is one of the reasons that Rhode Island often has the lowest student/teacher ratio in the United States. Rhode Island is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts and by Connecticut on the [Page 658]west. The Atlantic Ocean makes up its southern border. Providence is both the capital and the largest city in the state. Rhode Island has ...