The eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East or simply the East, is the region of the United States lying to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area. In 2011, the 28 states east of the Mississippi (in addition to Washington, D.C. but not including the small portions of Louisiana and Minnesota east of the river) had an estimated population of 179,948,346 or 58.28% of the total U.S. population of 308,745,358 (excluding Puerto Rico).