when did the us acquire the last of the territory that would make up the 48 contiguous states
Territorial evolution of the United States Regarding internal borders, while territories could shift wildly in size, once established a state has commonly remained within its borders, barring small changes due to river shifts. Only four states – Maine, Kentucky, Vermont, and West Virginia – have been created from land claimed by another state; all of the others were created from territories or directly from acquisitions. The last state of the contiguous United States, commonly called the "lower 48," was admitted in 1912; the fiftieth and most recent state was admitted in 1959.
United States The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.[fn 6] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), the United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area[fn 7] and just fractionally smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 325 million people, the U.S. is the third-most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.[19]