罗德岛(Rhode Island)

正式名称罗德岛暨普洛维顿斯种植园州（Rhode Island and Providence Plantations）

美国东北部一州。新英格兰地区之一，为美国最小的一州，面积3,139平方公里。首府为普洛维顿斯。以大西洋为边界。原始居民为纳拉甘西特族印第安人。1636年被逐出麻萨诸塞的威廉斯和其追随者首次在此建立欧洲人居住点。1663年国王查理二世颁给威廉斯特许证。虽然该地从未正式加入新英格兰殖民地，许多居住地仍在菲利普王战争中遭到严重焚毁，损失惨重。为联邦的原始成员之一，1790年批准联邦宪法，为正式加入联邦的第十三州。1790年斯莱特在波塔基特建立的棉花纺织坊，是美国工业革命的开始。其原本特许状在1842年多尔反叛（参阅Dorr, Thomas Wilson）前有效，并造成选举权的扩大。其经济主要倚靠制造业，产品包括珠宝和银器、纺织品和衣服、电子机械和电器制品。人口约1,048,319（2000）。

English version：

Rhode Island

State (pop., 1997 est.: 987,000), northeastern U.S. One of the New England states and the smallest U.S. state, it covers 1,212 sq mi (3,139 sq km); its capital is Providence. It borders the Atlantic Ocean. The original inhabitants were Narragansett Indians. The first European settlement was in 1636 by Roger Williams and his followers, who were banished from Massachusetts; in 1663 King Charles II granted a charter to Williams. Though it never officially joined the New England colonies in King Philip's War, it suffered greatly when many settlements were burned. It was in the forefront fighting British customs laws leading up to the American Revolution. An original state of the Union, it was the 13th to ratify the Constitution, in 1790, only after the Bill of Rights was included. The cotton-textile mill built by Samuel Slater in Pawtucket in 1790 initiated the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. Its original charter remained in effect until Dorr's Rebellion (see Thomas W. Dorr) in 1842 led to extension of suffrage. Manufacturing is important to the economy, and products include jewelry and silverware, textiles and clothing, and electrical machinery and electronics.