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Contiguous United States
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The term contiguous United States refers to the 48 contiguous U.S. states located on the North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the District of Columbia.
The term excludes the states of Alaska and Hawaii and all off-shore U.S. territories and possessions.
Together, the 48 contiguous states and D.C. have an area of 3,119,884.69 square miles (8,080,464.25 kmē). Of this, 2,959,064.44 sq mi (7,663,941.71 kmē) is land, comprising 83.65% of U.S.
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Encyclopedia
The term contiguous United States refers to the 48 contiguous U.S. states located on the North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the District of Columbia.
The term excludes the states of Alaska and Hawaii and all off-shore U.S. territories and possessions.
Together, the 48 contiguous states and D.C. have an area of 3,119,884.69 square miles (8,080,464.25 kmē). Of this, 2,959,064.44 sq mi (7,663,941.71 kmē) is land, comprising 83.65% of U.S. land area. Officially, 160,820.25 sq mi (416,522.38 kmē) is water area, comprising 62.66% of the nation's water area. Its 2000 census population was 279,583,437, comprising 99.35% of the nation's population. Its population density was 94.484 inhabitants/sq mi (36.480/kmē), compared to 79.555/sq mi (30.716/kmē) for the nation as a whole.
Other terms
Some other terms are commonly used to describe the 48 contiguous states.
Continental United States
Because Alaska is also on the North American continent, the term continental United States, if interpreted literally, should also include that state, so the term is sometimes qualified with the explicit inclusion or exclusion of Alaska to resolve any ambiguity. The term was in use prior to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states of the United States, and at that time usually excluded outlying territories of the U.S. However, even before Alaska became a state, it was sometimes included within the "Continental US".
The Lower 48
The term lower 48 may or may not include the District of Columbia (which is not part of any of the 48 states), and may or may not exclude Hawaii (which is the southern-most U.S. state). The National Geographic style guide recommends the use of contiguous or conterminous United States when the 48 states are meant. The coterminous United States is also used instead of the conterminious United States and has the same meaning.
CONUS
CONUS is a technical term used by the U.S. Military which is specifically defined as the 48 contiguous states, but is silent on the District of Columbia.
Terms used in the non-contiguous states
Both Alaska and Hawaii, because of their own location relative to the contiguous United States, have their own unique labels for it.
Hawaii
In Hawaii and overseas American territories, for instance, the terms "the Mainland" or "U.S. Mainland" are used to refer to the continental United States.
Alaska
In Alaska, given the ambiguity surrounding the usage of continental, the term "continental United States" is almost unheard of when referring to the contiguous 48 states. Several other terms have been used over the years. Most Americans are familiar with the term "Lower 48", which for many years was the most common Alaskan equivalent for "continental United States". However, since the 1980s Alaskans have increasingly adopted the term "Outside" to refer to the rest of the United States. Alaskans will speak of going Outside to vacation or will refer to being born Outside."
See also
External links
- Definition of .
- Definition of .
- Definition of and .
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