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The continental United States is a term referring to the part of the United States situated on the North American continent, and most commonly refers to the 48 contiguous states plus the District of Columbia – in other words, the U.S. excluding Alaska and Hawaii. These 48 states have together an area of 7,902,634 km².

The District of Columbia, while not a state, is generally understood to form part of the continental United States.

Some equivalent terms are:

• contiguous United States
• coterminous (or conterminus) United States
• lower 48
• CONUS (a military abbreviation)

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 (either including or excluding Alaska).

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" or "Stateside". The latter is often used by military personnel, dating from the time when for most branches of military service Alaska duty stations were considered Overseas posts. The usage passed from the military to the general populace.

Use in federal law

As the language of the Alaska Omnibus Act of 1959 makes apparent, the term was in use in U.S. federal law prior to then. It presumably dates from after the acquisition of Alaska in 1867, and probably from after the Spanish-American War and the annexation of Hawaii brought the United States its first off-continent possessions, both in 1898. Whatever else these terms may be, "continental United States" is a term defined in various federal laws, in different ways in different time periods; it is also defined in different ways at the same time, depending on whether or not the context was the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, during at least a period that began with Alaska statehood.

Notes

1. Because Alaska is also on the North American continent, it would be more strictly correct that the phrase "the continental United States" would exclude only Hawaii, but in fact it is rarely used in that manner.
2. The term "lower 48 states" to exclude Alaska and Hawaii is not strictly accurate, since Hawaii is further south than several states.
3. Alaska Answers weblog
4. Speak Alaskan
5. About Alaska

See also

• Extreme points of the United States
• Mainland
• Oceania

External links

• Definition of continental.
• Definition of contiguous.
• Definition of coterminous and conterminous.
• Definitions of continental United States and contiguous United States as used by United Airlines.

• Subdivisions of the United States