Editing Contiguous United States (section)

=== The lower 48 ===

The term ''lower 48'' is also used to refer to the conterminous United States. The ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' style guide recommends the use of ''contiguous'' or ''conterminous United States'' instead of ''lower 48'' when the 48 states are meant, unless used in the context of Alaska.<ref name=ngstyle/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://stylemanual.ngs.org/home/C/conterminous-contiguous-continental |title=National Geographic Style Manual: conterminous, or contiguous, continental, continental United States |access-date=September 22, 2011 |archive-date=January 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075245/http://stylemanual.ngs.org/home/C/conterminous-contiguous-continental |url-status=live |quote= Use contiguous, or conterminous, for the 48 states. The continental United States comprises the 48 contiguous, or conterminous, states plus Alaska.}}</ref> Almost all of Hawaii is south of the southernmost point of the conterminous United States in Florida.