The state of Rhode Island is not an island as most of the coastal state is located on the mainland.
Until 2020, the state was officially called State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a name dating back to the merger of four Colonial settlements, including what was then called Rhode Island, but is now Aquidneck Island, an actual island off the coast in Narragansett Bay.
In use, the name became shortened to Rhode Island and used to refer to the entire state. In 2020, voters approved the removal of the words ‘Providence Plantations’ from the state’s official name due to the historical association of plantations with slavery and racism.
