Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. It borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the Yukon territory to the east; it shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south. Technically a semi-exclave of the U.S., it is the largest exclave in the world.
The term "United States," when used in the geographical sense, refers to the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and minor outlying possessions. The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, The Bahamas, and many other countries, mainly in the Caribbeanin addition to Canada and Mexico. The northern border of the United States with Canada is the world's longest bi-national land border.
The United States had an official estimated resident population of 334,914,895 on July 1, 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This figure includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia but excludes the population of five unincorporated U.S. territories as well as several minor island possessions. The United States is the third most populous country in the world, and the most populous in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. The Census Bureau showed a population increase of 0.4% for the twelve-month period ending in July 2022, below the world average annual rate of 0.9%. The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2022 is 1.665 children per woman, which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1.
Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. This area covers about 48 per cent of Canada's total land area, but has less than 0.5 per cent of Canada's population.
The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States of America in central North America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, which are Alaska and Hawaii, and all other offshore insular areas, such as the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The colloquial term "Lower 48" is also used, especially in relation to Alaska.
In the United States, a county or county equivalent is an administrative or political subdivision of a U.S. state or other territories of the United States which consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs, respectively. The specific governmental powers of counties vary widely between the states, with many providing some level of services to civil townships, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. Certain municipalities are in multiple counties; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five counties, referred to at the city government level as boroughs. Some municipalities have been consolidated with their county government to form consolidated city-counties, or have been legally separated from counties altogether to form independent cities. Conversely, those counties in Connecticut, Rhode Island, eight of Massachusetts's 14 counties, and Alaska's Unorganized Borough have no government power, existing only as geographic distinctions.
New Ashford is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 250 at the 2020 census.
In 45 of the 50 states of the United States, the county is used for the level of local government immediately below the state itself. Louisiana uses parishes, and Alaska uses boroughs. In Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, some or all counties within states have no governments of their own; the counties continue to exist as legal entities, however, and are used by states for some administrative functions and by the United States Census bureau for statistical analysis. There are 3,242 counties and county equivalent administrative units in total, including the District of Columbia and 100 county-equivalents in the U.S. territories.
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. This is the core of a metropolitan statistical area in the United States, if it contains a population of more than 50,000.
Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of the North American continent and is bordered only by Canada on the east. It is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined. About 500 miles (800 km) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington state. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States that is part of the continental U.S. and the U.S. West Coast, but is not part of the contiguous U.S.
Alaska 
Texas 
California 
Montana 
New Mexico 
Arizona 
Nevada 
Colorado 
Oregon 
Wyoming 
Michigan 
Minnesota 
Utah 
Idaho 
Kansas 
Nebraska 
South Dakota 
Washington 
North Dakota 
Oklahoma 
Missouri 
Florida 
Wisconsin 
Georgia 
Illinois 
Iowa 
New York 
North Carolina 
Arkansas 
Alabama 
Louisiana 
Mississippi 
Pennsylvania 
Ohio 
Virginia 
Tennessee 
Kentucky 
Indiana 
Maine 
South Carolina 
West Virginia 
Maryland 
Hawaii 
Massachusetts 
Vermont 
New Hampshire 
New Jersey 
Connecticut 
Puerto Rico 
Delaware 
Northern Mariana Islands 
Rhode Island 
U.S. Virgin Islands 
American Samoa 
Guam 
District of Columbia 
U.S. states by total area
U.S. states by land area
U.S. states by water area
U.S. states by water percentage
Alaska is the largest state by total area, land area, and water area. It is the seventh-largest country subdivision in the world. [5] [ failed verification ]
The area of Alaska is 18% of the area of the United States and equivalent to 21% of the area of the contiguous United States.
The second largest state, Texas, has only 40% of the total area of the largest state, Alaska.
Rhode Island is the smallest state by total area and land area.
San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous U.S. and is larger than each of the nine smallest states; it is larger than the four smallest states combined.
Michigan is second (after Alaska) in water area, and first in water percentage.
Florida is mostly a peninsula, and has the third-largest water area and seventh-largest water area percentage.
