List of counties in Rhode Island

Counties of Rhode Island

Location| State of Rhode Island
Number| 5
Populations| 50,145 (Bristol) – 675,912 (Providence)
Areas| 24 square miles (62 km2) (Bristol) – 409 square miles (1,060 km2) (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).[1] Although Rhode Island is divided into counties, it does not have any local government at the county level.[2] Instead, local governance is provided by the eight cities and thirty-one towns.[3] 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.[4]

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.[2]

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.[5] 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

[edit]

County
| FIPS code[6] | County town[7] | Established[2] | Origin[8] | Etymology  | Population[9] | Area[9] | Map

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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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  | 50,145 | 24 sq mi
(62 km2) |
Kent County | 003 | East Greenwich | 1750 | Created from part of Providence County. | County of Kent, England  | 172,450 | 168 sq mi
(435 km2) |
Newport County | 005 | Newport | 1703 | Formed as Rhode Island County in 1703. Renamed Newport County in 1729 | Town of Newport, Essex, England  | 83,468 | 102 sq mi
(264 km2) |
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 | 675,912 | 409 sq mi
(1,059 km2) |
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 | 130,333 | 329 sq mi
(852 km2) |

### Note

[edit]

* 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.[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "How Many Counties are in Your State?". 2000. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "US Census Bureau QuickFacts: Rhode Island". State & County QuickFacts. Retrieved March 14, 2025.

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*[FIPS]: Federal Information Processing Standard
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