The United States consists of 50 States and the District of Columbia. The capital is Washington, District of Columbia; the largest city by population is New York, New York. The United States has a total area of 3,809,525 square miles, encompassing 3,532,316 square miles of land and 277,209 square miles of water, placing it among the five largest nations in terms of area. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia are contiguous; these along with Alaska, are located in North America. Hawaii is an archipelago located in the central Pacific Ocean.