The term 'United States', when used in the geographical sense, refers to the contiguous United States, the state of Alaska, the island state of Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, and minor outlying possessions. The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, The Bahamas, and other countries, in addition to Canada and Mexico. The northern border of the United States with Canada is the world's longest bi-national land border. Area From 1989 through 1996, the total area of the US was listed as (land + inland water only). The listed total area changed to in 1997 (Great Lakes area and coastal waters added), to in 2004, to in 2006, and to in 2007 (territorial waters added). Currently, the CIA World Factbook gives , the United Nations Statistics Division gives , and the Encyclopedia Britannica gives (Great Lakes area included but not coastal waters). These sources consider only the 50 states and the Federal District and exclude overseas territories. The US has the 2nd largest Exclusive Economic Zone of . By total area (water as well as land), the United States is either slightly larger or smaller than the People's Republic of China, making it the world's third or fourth-largest country. China and the United States are smaller than Russia and Canada in total area but are larger than Brazil. By land area only (exclusive of waters), the United States is the world's third largest country, after Russia and China, with Canada in fourth. Whether the US or China is the third largest country by total area depends on two factors: (1) The validity of China's claim on Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract (both these territories are also claimed by India, so are not counted); and (2) How the US calculates its surface area. Since the initial publishing of the World Factbook, the CIA has updated the total area of the United States several times. General characteristics The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and a territorial water border with Russia in the northwest, and two territorial water borders in the southeast between Florida and Cuba, and Florida and the Bahamas. The contiguous forty-eight states are otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and