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Counties of Rhode Island
Location	State of Rhode Island
Number	5
Populations	50,255 (Bristol) – 660,615 (Providence)
Areas	24 square miles (62 km) (Bristol) – 409 square miles (1,060 km) (Providence)
Government	County government (defunct since 1846)
Subdivisions	cities, towns, villages, unincorporated communities, census designated places

There are five counties in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Rhode Island is tied with Hawaii for having the second-fewest counties of any U.S. state (only Delaware has fewer, with three counties). Although Rhode Island is divided into counties, it does not have any local government at the county level. Instead, local governance is provided by the eight cities and thirty-one towns. Counties in Rhode Island have had no governmental functions since 1846 other than as court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries which are part of state government.

Within Rhode Island, Washington County is colloquially referred to as South County.

The colony of Rhode Island was established in the 17th century. It was the first of the thirteen original American colonies to declare independence from British rule in 1776, during the American Revolution, and the last to ratify the Constitution. The counties were all established before the Declaration of Independence.

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Rhode Island's code is 44, which when combined with any county code would be written as 44XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.

Alphabetical list

County	FIPS code	County town	Established	Origin	Etymology	Population	Area	Map
Bristol County	001	Bristol	1747	Created from land gained from Bristol County, Massachusetts, after resolution of a boundary dispute between the two colonies.	City of Bristol, England	50,255	24 sq mi (62 km)
Kent County	003	East Greenwich	1750	Created from part of Providence County.	County of Kent, England	171,278	168 sq mi (435 km)
Newport County	005	Newport	1703	Formed as Rhode Island County in 1703. Renamed Newport County in 1729	Town of Newport, Essex, England	83,832	102 sq mi (264 km)
Providence County	007	Providence	1703	Formed in 1703 as Providence Plantations County. Renamed Providence County in 1729	Divine Providence, a concept reflecting the religious nature of colonial founder Roger Williams	660,615	409 sq mi (1,059 km)
Washington County	009	South Kingstown*	1729	Formed in 1729 as Kings County from part of Providence Plantations County. Renamed Washington County in 1781.	George Washington, American Revolutionary War general and first President of the United States	129,982	329 sq mi (852 km)

Note

• The county seat of Washington County (before county government was abolished) is often referred to as West Kingston. In reality, West Kingston, a village of South Kingstown, does not have its own local government, but because the courthouse was located in West Kingston's zip code, it has become known as the county seat.

References

1. "How Many Counties are in Your State?". 2000. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
2. ^ National Association of Counties. "NACo – Find a county". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
3. "Know Rhode Island". Rhode Island Office of the Secretary of State. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
4. "About South County". South County History Center.
5. "FIPS Publish 6-4". National Institute of Standards and Technology. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
6. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA. Archived from the original on September 22, 2004. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
7. "State of Rhode Island General Laws, Chap. 42-3".
8. "Rhode Island Counties and Towns". December 19, 2002. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
9. ^ "US Census Bureau QuickFacts: Rhode Island". State & County QuickFacts. Retrieved April 20, 2024.

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