Public Lands, in the United States, land owned by the federal government. This land is sometimes called the public domain, although that term also has a broader meaning. Land owned by a municipality, county, or state may also be referred to as public land. This article, however, deals only with federally owned lands. The federal government has at various times held title to about four-fifths of the nation's area. Twenty-nine states were created out of the original public lands.
More than 1,800,000 square miles (4,662,000 km 2 ) have been transferred, by sale or gift, to private citizens, businesses, institutions, and state and local governments. The remaining public lands total about 1,030,000 square miles (2,668,000 km 2 ), or approximately one-third of the nation's area. Some of these lands are occupied by military installations and other government facilities; some are used for such purposes as grazing, lumbering, recreation, and power-development projects; and some are vacant.
