What is the smallest state in the US? These are the 10 smallest states across America.

Mythili Devarakonda, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read

The United States of America was created in the 18th century with the Declaration of Independence by 13 British colonies in North America. The country expanded its territory throughout the 19th and 20th centuries with Hawaii being the 50th and final state admitted on Aug. 21, 1959.

Today, the U.S. is the fourth-largest country in the world by area and consists of the contiguous lower 48 adjoining states, and the District of Columbia and two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii. The total area of these states is 9.6 million square kilometers, according to Nations Encyclopedia, excluding the nation’s territories and dependencies.

What is the smallest state?

According to World Atlas, Rhode Island is the smallest state with a total area of 3,144 square kilometers. Following Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut are the smallest states by area.

While Rhode Island might be tiny, it’s not the smallest in terms of population in the U.S. The state with the least population is Wyoming, according to World Population Review. Wyoming, which is approximately 80 times larger in area than Rhode Island, has a population short of 600,000. This is about half of Rhode Island’s population.

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What are the top 10 smallest states?

Maybe you’re tired of driving around the big states and want to move to the smaller ones or, perhaps, you’re helping your child do their homework. Whatever the case, here are the top 10 smallest states in the U.S., by size, according to the World Atlas.

  • Rhode Island

  • Delaware

  • Connecticut

  • New Jersey

  • New Hampshire

  • Vermont

  • Massachusetts

  • Hawaii

  • Maryland

  • West Virginia

What state was founded first?

Delaware was the first of 13 original states to be ratified into the U.S. Constitution on Dec. 7, 1787. Because of this, the state was officially nicknamed “The First State” in 2002, according to Delaware’s official website.

Holding the title for the second smallest state in the country, Delaware has a total area of 5,130 square kilometers approximately, according to World Atlas.

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Just Curious for more?

USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "What is a good credit score?" to "What is the largest organ in the body?" to "What is the coldest planet?", we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is smallest state in the US? These are the 10 smallest in America

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