Narragansett Bay in the context of "Rhode Island"

Providence (/ˈprɒvɪdəns/ ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It is the third-most populous city in New England with a population of 190,934 at the 2020 census, while the Providence metropolitan area extending into Massachusetts has approximately 1.7 million residents, the 39th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. It is the county seat of Providence County.

Providence is one of the oldest cities in New England, founded in 1636 by Reformed Baptist theologian Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of "God's merciful Providence" which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him and his followers. The city developed as a busy port, as it is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay.

The Saybrook Colony was a short-lived English colony established in New England in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Saybrook was founded by a group of Puritan noblemen as a potential political refuge from the personal rule of Charles I. They claimed possession of the land via a deed of conveyance from Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, which granted the colony the land from the Narragansett Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Saybrook was named in honor of two of its primary investors: Lord Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke. John Winthrop the Younger was contracted as the colony's first governor, but he quickly left Saybrook after failing to enforce its authority over Connecticut's settlers. Lion Gardiner was left in charge of Saybrook's considerable fort when Winthrop left, defending it when it was besieged during the Pequot War. Governor George Fenwick arrived in the colony in 1639, but he quickly saw it as a lost cause. Fenwick negotiated the colony's sale to Connecticut in 1644 after interest in colonization dried up due to the investors' involvement in the English Civil War. The colony's founding document was the Warwick Patent, which was used to justify the existence of the Connecticut Colony, as Connecticut did not get a formal charter until 1662.

Rhode Island Sound is a sound off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. It begins east of Block Island Sound, continues to the east to Buzzards Bay, and opens south into the Atlantic Ocean between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard. The sound forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Aquidneck Island (/əˈkwɪdnɛk/ ə-KWID-nek), officially known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is 37.8 sq mi (98 km), which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as 60,109. The state of Rhode Island is named after the island; the United States Board on Geographic Names recognizes Rhode Island as the name for the island, although it is widely referred to as Aquidneck Island in the state and by the island's residents.

Aquidneck Island is home to three towns: from north to south, Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport.

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was an English colony on the eastern coast of America, founded in 1636 by Puritan minister Roger Williams, at a settlement he originally called Providence Plantations, after his exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Joined by three other settlements soon founded on Narragansett Bay, the colony became a haven for religious dissenters and was known for its commitment to religious freedom and self-governance.

The four Narragansett Bay settlements created an official confederacy through a charter under the Patent of 1643–1644, granted by the English Parliament. It received a more comprehensive Royal Charter in 1663 from King Charles II, which established its government and guaranteed its religious liberties. Rhode Island continued as a self-governing colony until 1776, when it declared independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution, becoming the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Giovanni da Verrazzano (/ˌvɛrəˈzɑːnoʊ, -ətˈsɑː-/ VERR-ə-ZAH-noh, -⁠ət-SAH-, Italian: [dʒoˈvanni da (v)verratˈtsaːno]; often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1491–1528) was an Italian explorer from the Republic of Florence, best known for his expedition to North America. He led most of his later missions, including the one to America, in the service of King Francis I of France.

He is renowned as the first European to ever explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and New Brunswick in 1524, including New York Bay and Narragansett Bay.

Mount Hope Bay is a tidal estuary located at the mouth of the Taunton River on the Massachusetts and Rhode Island border. It is an arm of Narragansett Bay. The bay is named after Mount Hope, a small hill located on its western shore in what is now Bristol, Rhode Island. It flows into the East Passage of Narragansett Bay and also the Sakonnet River. Mount Hope Bay has played an important role to the history of the area, from pre-colonial times to the present. While many years of sewage and industrial pollution have severely degraded the quality of the shallow waters of the bay, there are currently major efforts underway to clean up and restore it.

Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. The city has a population of about 25,000 residents.

Newport hosted the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge for the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and has many buildings from the colonial era.