City of Providence, RI

Providence is the capital and most populous city in Rhode Island. Founded in 1636, it is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is located in Providence County, and is the third-largest city in the New England region after Boston and Worcester. Providence has a city population of 179,154 and is part of the 38th-largest metropolitan population in the country, with an estimated population of 1,604,291, exceeding that of Rhode Island by about 60%, as it extends into southern Massachusetts. This can be considered in turn to be part of the Greater Boston commuting area, which contains 7.6 million people. The city is situated at the mouth of the Providence River, at the head of Narragansett Bay. Providence was founded by 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 to settle. The Providence city limits enclose a small geographic region, with a total area of 20.5 square miles (53 km2). 18.5 square miles (48 km2) of it is land and the remaining 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2) (roughly 10%) of it is water.