The contiguous United States (CONUS) is the 48 adjoining U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. (federal district) on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico. The term excludes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii and all off-shore United States territories and possessions, which include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The greatest distance (on a great circle route) entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles (4,509 km, between Florida and the state of Washington); the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles (2,660 km). Together, the 48 contiguous states and Washington, 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 area, 2,959,064.44 square miles (7,663,941.7 km2) is land, composing 83.65% of U.S. land area, just slightly smaller than that of Australia. Officially, 160,820.25 square miles (416,522.5 km2) is water area, composing 62.66% of the nation's water area. |