<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Released in 2001 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Lists of United States state symbols </Td> </Tr> <P> Rhode Island (/ ˌroʊd - / (listen)), officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States . It is the smallest in area, the 7th least populous, and the 2nd most densely populated of the 50 states--but its official name is the longest . Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound . It also shares a small maritime border with New York . Providence is the state capital and most populous city in Rhode Island . </P> <P> On May 4, 1776, the Colony of Rhode Island became the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, and it was the fourth among the newly independent states to ratify the Articles of Confederation on February 9, 1778 . The state boycotted the 1787 convention which drew up the United States Constitution and initially refused to ratify it; it was the last of the original states to do so on May 29, 1790 . </P>

Where is rhode island located in the united states
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