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| The '''continental United States''' is a term referring to the part of the ] situated on the ]n ], and most commonly refers to the 48 contiguous ] plus the ] – in other words, the U.S. excluding ] and ].<ref>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.</ref> The 48 states and D.C. have together an area of 3,119,686 square miles (8,079,461 km²). | |||
| Some equivalent terms are: | |||
| * '''contiguous United States''' | |||
| * '''coterminous''' (or '''conterminous''') '''United States''' | |||
| * '''lower 48 ''' <ref>The term "lower 48 states" to exclude Alaska and Hawaii is not strictly accurate, since Hawaii is further south than all other states. The ], while not a state, is generally understood to be included in the "lower 48".</ref> | |||
| * '''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 ], 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'''".<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> 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 ] 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 ] and the annexation of ] 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 ], 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 ], during at least a period that began with Alaska statehood. | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
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