Contiguous United States

This map shows the contiguous United States and, in insets at the lower left, the two states that are not contiguous.

The contiguous United States refers to the 48 adjoining U.S. states on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico, plus the District of Columbia.^[1] The term excludes the states of Alaska and Hawaii, and all off-shore U.S. territories and possessions, such as Puerto Rico.^[2][3]

Together, the 48 contiguous states and D.C. occupy a combined area of 3,119,884.69 square miles (8,080,464.3 km²), which is 1.58% of the total surface area of the Earth. Of this, 2,959,064.44 square miles (7,663,941.7 km²) is land, composing 83.65% of U.S. land area. Officially, 160,820.25 square miles (416,522.5 km²) is water area, composing 62.66% of the nation's water area. The 2010 census population was 306,675,006, composing 99.33% of the nation's population, and a density of 103.639 inhabitants/sq mi (40.015/km²), compared to 87.264/sq mi (33.692/km²) for the nation as a whole.^[4]

Other terms [edit]

While coterminous U.S. has the precise meaning of contiguous U.S. (both adjectives meaning "sharing a common boundary"), other terms commonly used to describe the 48 contiguous states have a greater degree of ambiguity.

Continental United States [edit]

Because Alaska is also on the North American continent, the term continental United States, 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.^[2][5][6][7] 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.^[8][9] However, even before Alaska became a state, it was sometimes included within the "Continental US".^[10]

CONUS and OCONUS [edit]

CONUS, a technical term used by the U.S. Department of Defense, General Services Administration, NOAA/National Weather Service, and others has been defined both as the continental United States, and as the 48 contiguous states.^[11][12] The District of Columbia is not always specifically mentioned as being part of CONUS.^[12]

OCONUS is derived from CONUS with O for outside added, thus referring to Outside of Continental United States (OCONUS).^[11][13]

The Lower 48 [edit]

The term Lower 48 may or may not include the District of Columbia (D.C.), which is not part of any of the 48 states. However common usage is that it includes D.C.^{[citation needed]} and simply means the contiguous US as a region, as there is no typical need to politically separate D.C. from the region in everyday speech. Lower 48 is also ambiguously misleading, since all the major islands of Hawaii are farther south than the most southern point of any other state, and thus Hawaii could be considered "lower" than any other state.

The National Geographic style guide recommends the use of contiguous or conterminous United States instead of lower 48 when the 48 states are meant, unless used in the context of Alaska.^[14] Otherwise it is avoided as a misnomer.

Terms used in the non-contiguous states [edit]

Both Alaska and Hawaii have their own unique labels for the contiguous United States because of their own locations relative to them.

Alaska [edit]

Alaska became the 49th (and northernmost) state of the United States on January 3, 1959. Alaska is on the northwest end of the North American continent, but separated from the rest of the United States by the Canadian province of British Columbia. 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.^{[citation needed]} Several other terms have been used over the years. The term Lower 48 was for many years, and still is, the most common Alaskan equivalent for "contiguous United States".^[15][16]

Hawaii [edit]

Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States on August 21, 1959. It is the southernmost and, so far, the latest state to join the Union. Not part of any continent, Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from North America and almost halfway to Asia. In Hawaii and overseas American territories, for instance, the terms the Mainland or U.S. Mainland are often used to refer to the continental United States.

Non-contiguous areas within the contiguous United States [edit]

Some parts of the contiguous United States are accessible by road only by travelling on Canadian soil. Point Roberts, Washington; Elm Point, Minnesota; and the Northwest Angle in Minnesota are three such places. Alburgh, Vermont is not directly connected by land, but is accessible by road via bridges from New York and Vermont.^[17]

See also [edit]

• Extreme points of the United States
• Mainland
• Outside (Alaska)

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

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