Definition
The 48 U.S. states that share land borders with one another, occupying the continental landmass between Canada and Mexico. Excludes Alaska and Hawaii.
Plain English
The 48 states that touch each other on the U.S. mainland — every state except Alaska and Hawaii.
Context Anchor
Seen in airspace descriptions, especially when the FAA describes where a rule or airspace area applies within the United States.
Derivation
From Latin contiguus, meaning 'touching' or 'bordering.' The contiguous states all physically touch at least one other state in the group, which is why Alaska and Hawaii are excluded.
Why Pilots Care
Determines exactly where rules such as Class A airspace altitudes and certain equipment requirements apply.
Intuition Check
Do not read contiguous states as meaning “all U.S. states.” Here it means only the 48 connected mainland states; Alaska and Hawaii are not included.
Example Sentence 1
Class A airspace exists over the contiguous states from 18,000 feet MSL up to FL600.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot checked whether the destination lay within the contiguous states before applying the standard weather minimums.