-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Seeking The True Land Area of the USA, If It Exists Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 09:48:07 -0700 From: Brian Bach <[log in to unmask]> ------------------ I approach you all with a question submitted to me by a talented, capable, and thoroughly web-literate patron, who was rather embarrassed to admit that he could not find a proper declaration of what the current land area of the USA is. These sources stated: National Geographic (1999) 9,629,091 sq km or 3,717,796 sq mi Goode's World Atlas 3,787,425 sq mi ( (perhaps discrepancy includes Panama Canal Zone, though data is c.2000) CIA World Factbook, 2002 9,158,960 sq km (metric only, and conspicuously less than NGS!) US Census Bureau reverts to non-metric, as of 2000: 3,537,438 sq mi What gives? Are hourly readings taken by untold satellite coverage, which perhaps vary according to the tides on USA beaches or something? Pacific atolls mutating? Many thanks, Brian Brian P. Bach Maps Specialist Documents/Maps Central Washington University Library 400 E. University Way Ellensburg, WA 98926-7548 USA [log in to unmask]