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The term "United States", when used in the geographical sense, is the contiguous United States, the state of Alaska, the island state of Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, and minor outlying possessions.〔U.S. State Department, (Common Core Document to U.N. Committee on Human Rights ), December 30, 2011, Item 22, 27, 80; Homeland Security (Public Law 107-296 ) Sec.2.(16)(A); Presidential Proclamation of national jurisdiction ()〕 The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, and the Bahamas in addition to Canada and Mexico. ==Area== From 1989 through 1996, the total area of the US was listed as (land + inland water only). The listed total area changed to in 1997 (Great Lakes area and coastal waters added), to in 2004, to in 2006, and to in 2007 (territorial waters added). Currently, the CIA ''World Factbook'' gives , the United Nations Statistics Division gives , and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' gives (Great Lakes area included but not coastal waters).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=United States )〕 These source consider only the 50 states and the Federal District, and exclude overseas territories. By total area (water as well as land), the United States is either slightly larger or smaller than the People's Republic of China, making it the world's third or fourth largest country. China and the United States are smaller than Russia and Canada in total area, but are larger than Brazil. By land area only (exclusive of waters), the United States is the world's third largest country, after Russia and China, with Canada in fourth. Whether the US or China is the third largest country by total area depends on two factors: (1) The validity of China's claim on Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. Both these territories are also claimed by India, so are not counted; and (2) How US calculates its own surface area. Since the initial publishing of the World Factbook, the CIA has updated the total area of United States a number of times. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geography of the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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