Portal:Rhode Island/Selected article/1

Providence is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and one of the first cities established in the United States, located in Providence County. It is the estimated third-largest city in the New England region. It has an estimated population of 172,459 as of 2007—yet it anchors the 36th-largest metropolitan population in the country due to its reaching into southern Massachusetts, with an estimated MSA population of 1,600,856, exceeding that of Rhode Island by about 60%. The city is situated at the mouth of the Providence River and the head of Narragansett Bay. Its small area is crisscrossed by erratic streets and contains a rapidly changing demographic. It was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony who 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. Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and became noted for its jewelry and silverware industry.