Conterminous United States

United States map. The main part shows the Conterminous United States ; In the excerpts at the bottom left, the states of Alaska (on a smaller scale) and Hawaii (true to scale) that do not belong to these states are shown.

The Conterminous United States (also Coterminous United States ), alternatively also Contiguous United States ("contiguous United States") or Lower 48 ("lower 48"), denote the totality of the 48 states of the USA as well as not separated by oceans or international borders the District of Columbia and, in contrast to the Continental United States (CONUS for short), exclude Alaska as well as Hawaii .

The geographic definitions of the terms United States , Conterminous United States and Continental United States were officially established at the US national level in 1959 by the United States Board on Geographic Names , i.e. H. the National Geographic Name Authority , established and reaffirmed in 1999.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See, for example, the result of a literature search at the United States Department of Agriculture , accessed August 1, 2020.
2. ^ Lower 48. In: merriam-webster.com . Retrieved August 1, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Glossary. In: dsca.mil. Defense Security Cooperation Agency , accessed August 1, 2020 . 
4. ↑ CONUS. In: dictionary.com . Retrieved August 1, 2020 . 
5. ^ ^{A b} What constitutes the United States? What are the official definitions? United States Geological Survey , accessed August 1, 2020 .