Im confused. What does "mainland" mean? (live in, island)

[ambermerci]

Excuse me, I am from the east coast. 1 hour from boston, and I keep hearing people talk about the "mainland". I am assuming it means the states, but could it mean the larger Island of Hawaii? I suppose I could get the answer if I keep reading, but Id like to know now.
Its driving me crazy reading, mainland this, and mainlland that.
THANKS!!
Love to all

[hothulamaui]

it doe means the continuous united states. the "mainland" excluding alaska and hawaii. "big island" is the term for the biggest island, Hawaii

[Balad1]

The mainland is the lower 48 states; to some Alaska is also part of the mainland but that differs with who you talk to.

[KoaKine]

Aloha,

I will try not to be sarcastic and this will be very hard.

The term "Mainland" generally means that really big Island to the east of the state of Hawaii 2500 miles away I think its called North America.

The term you used "the states" does not explain much because were one of the "States" here if I remember correctly were the 50th State.

You also can refer to the "Mainland" from any of the Continents around the world .

Also remember that we here in Hawaii live in /on the most remote Islands in the world.

[ambermerci]

Thank you for your replies. I've always been interested in hawaiin life and culture, but haven't explored much of it. This explanation will help me on my road to discovery.

[Mick St John]

Spend two weeks on Maui and everything will become clear.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by KoaKine

The term "Mainland" generally means that really big Island to the east of the state of Hawaii 2500 miles away I think its called North America.

Some folks also refer to that "really big island east of the State of Hawai'i" as "Moku Honu" or "Turtle Island."

[Minuteman81]

Mainland is usually the lower 48, however Las Vegas is the 9th island.

[ambermerci]

LOL @ las Vegas

[Calico Salsa]

Just to clarify, the term is contiguous (not continuous) states. Means almost the same thing, although contiguous refers to sharing borders.

Some people have told me they can only ship ground to "domestic US", but of course Hawaii and Alaska are also domestic, since we are not foreign. They probably mean "continental US", those states that share a continent.

Sometimes the term "lower 48" is a bit confusing, as Hawaii is actually lower on the lines of latitude than all the other states. So actually if you were taking the lower 48 of the states, you'd include Hawaii and exclude maybe Washington. I am just going to guess that the term "lower 48" came into play before Hawaii became a state. Don't know.