Continental United States

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The continental United States commonly refers to the 48 contiguous states located on the central part of the North American continent, plus the District of Columbia, and so does not include Alaska and Hawaii. Because Alaska is also on the North American continent, the term, if interpreted literally, would also include that state, so the term is sometimes qualified with the explicit inclusion or exclusion of Alaska to resolve any ambiguity. This ambiguity existed long before Alaska became a state in 1959.

Some other terms which are equivalent in common usage are:

• contiguous United States
• coterminous (or conterminous) United States
• the lower 48
• CONUS

The 48 states and D.C. together have an area of 3,119,686 square miles (8,079,461 km²).

Alaska and Hawaii

Some places, because of their own location relative to the contiguous United States, have their own unique labels for it. In Hawaii and overseas American territories, for instance, the term "the Mainland" or "U.S. Mainland" is used to refer to the continental United States.

In Alaska, the term "continental United States" is almost never used when referring to just the contiguous 48 states, perhaps because some Alaskans consider it a slight to exclude them from the continent. Instead, the term "Lower 48" is sometimes used, but more often, long-time residents use "Outside".

Notes

See also

• Extreme points of the United States
• Mainland
• Oceania

External links

• Definition of continental
• Definition of contiguous
• Definition of coterminous and conterminous

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Last updated on Monday February 25, 2008 at 16:29:07 PST (GMT -0800)
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