Rhode Island Counties Map: Click All 5 Counties

How many counties are in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island has 5 counties. 47 states have more, and 1 have fewer.

Rhode Island has five counties but no county governments; it did away with them in the 1840s, so towns and the state do the work. Providence County, in the north, holds the capital and more than half of the state's people. Bristol County, on Narragansett Bay, is the smallest.

Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns handle the jobs that counties do in most states, so the five counties appear mostly on maps, court records and weather alerts. Narragansett Bay cuts deep into the state from the south, which is why Bristol and Newport counties are split from the rest by water. Newport County even reaches across the bay to the mainland at Tiverton and Little Compton, next to Massachusetts. Ask children to find the bay first, then name the county on each side of it.

How Rhode Island's counties were formed

Rhode Island's counties began in 1703, when the colony was divided into Providence Plantations and Rhode Island (later Newport) counties. Kings County followed in 1729 and was renamed Washington County in 1781. Bristol County, transferred from Massachusetts, was created in 1747, and Kent County in 1750. The state ended county government in 1842, and the courts took over the counties' remaining roles.

Rhode Island regions and the counties in each

Rhode Island's five counties fit together around Narragansett Bay. Providence County covers the north, including the city of Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket and the Blackstone Valley mill towns. Kent County is the middle, with Warwick and T. F. Green airport. Washington County, called South County, has the southern beaches, Narragansett and Block Island. Bristol County is the small peninsula on the bay's east side, and Newport County includes Aquidneck Island, Jamestown on Conanicut Island and the mainland towns of Tiverton and Little Compton.

Notable places on the Rhode Island county map

Jerimoth Hill, the state's highest point at 812 feet, is in the town of Foster in Providence County. Slater Mill in Pawtucket, also in Providence County, was one of the first water-powered cotton mills in the country, built in 1793. Newport County holds the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, and Block Island, about 13 miles off the coast, belongs to Washington County. Rhode Island is the smallest state by area, about 48 miles from north to south, so the whole county map fits in a short drive. Its official name was the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations until voters shortened it in 2020.

Rhode Island counties map: the biggest and smallest

Providence County is the largest county in Rhode Island, with 410 square miles of land, about 40% of the state. Bristol County is the smallest, at 24 square miles.

Which counties in Rhode Island have the most people?

Providence County has the most people, about 675,912 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 61% of everyone in Rhode Island. The three biggest counties together hold 88% of the state's 1,112,308 people. Bristol County has the fewest, about 50,145.

The most crowded is Bristol County, with about 2,081 people per square mile. The emptiest is Washington County, with about 396 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Providence in?

Providence, the capital of Rhode Island, is in Providence County. It's also the county with the most people. Rhode Island is called the Ocean State, and it became the 13th state in 1790.

Counties on the Rhode Island border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Rhode Island shares a border with Connecticut and Massachusetts.

How Rhode Island's counties compare with other states

Rhode Island ranks 50th among the 50 states in land area and 44th in population. Its average county covers about 207 square miles and holds about 222,462 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Rhode Island's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Rhode Island

• Providence County covers the northern half of the state.
• Washington County (South County) is the southern coast.
• Newport County includes Aquidneck Island, home to the city of Newport; Block Island belongs to Washington County.

With 5 counties, you can take on the whole map at once in a Practice round. Then print the Rhode Island county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 5 Rhode Island counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Rhode Island geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Northeast states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in rhode island, and check rhode island school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Rhode Island history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.