The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia occupy a combined area of . Of this area,  is contiguous land, composing 83.65% of total U.S. land area. Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, is  in area. The five populated but unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands together cover . Measured by only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.