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The origin of the name "Rhode Island" is unclear. It may have been given its name because of its similarity in shape to the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Alternatively, it may been bestowed by Dutch navigator Adriaen Block who visited the island in 1614, who may have named it Roode after the Dutch word for "red".
The largest city on the island is Newport, which is the fourth largest city in the state of Rhode Island. It shares the island with Middletown and Portsmouth.
The Newport Bridge, recently renamed the Senator Claiborne Pell Bridge, a toll bridge, connects it to Jamestown on nearby Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay,and subsequently to the mainland on the western side of the bay. Additionally, the Mount Hope bridge connects it to Bristol, and the Sakonnet Bridge carries traffic to Tiverton over the Sakonnet River, the narrow saltwater strait on the eastern side of the island.