The term
continental United States refers to the 48 contiguous
states located on the
North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the
District of Columbia, but excluding
Alaska and
Hawaii.
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Because Alaska is also on the North American continent, the term, 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.
[2][8]Some other terms which are equivalent in common usage, but which have less ambiguity in their meaning, include
The U.S. military also has a term which is equivalent in common usage
The 48 states and D.C. together 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 (36.48/km²), compared to 79.555/sq mi (30.716/km²) for the nation as a whole.[10]
