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The term
contiguous United States refers to the 48
U.S. states located on the
North American continent south of the U.S. 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, such as
Puerto Rico.
[, adj., "being the part of the United States on the North American continent; also : being the part of the United States comprising the lower 48 states"]
["CONUS" seems to be used primarily by the American military and the Federal government and those doing business with them.]
- 'CONUS - "Continental United States." CONUS refers to the 48 contiguous states.'
Together, the 48 contiguous states and D.C. have an area of 3,119,884.69 square miles (8,080,464.25 km²). Of this, 2,959,064.44 sq mi (7,663,941.71 km²) is land, comprising 83.65% of U.S. land area. Officially, 160,820.25 sq mi (416,522.38 km²) 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/km²), compared to 79.555/sq mi (30.716/km²) for the nation as a whole.
Other terms
While
coterminous U.S. and
conterminous U.S. have the same precise meaning as
contiguous U.S., some other terms are commonly used to describe the 48 contiguous states, but each may have some degree of ambiguity.
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 instead of "lower 48" when the 48 states are meant, unless used in the context of Alaska.
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 "contiguous 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
