4 U.S. CODE § 110
(e) The term “Federal area” means any lands or premises held or acquired by or for the use of the United States or any department, establishment, or agency, of the United States; and any Federal area, or any part thereof, which is located within the exterior boundaries of any State, shall be deemed to be a Federal area located within such State. Source (July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 645.)
The various meanings of AREA:
Webster’s Dictionary, 1828
Bouvier’s Dictionary of Law, 1856:1. Any plain surface, as the floor of a room, of a church or other building, or of the ground.
2. The space or site on which a building stands; or of any inclosure.
Black's Law Dictionary, 1st Edition, 1891An enclosed yard or opening in a house; an open place adjoining to a house. 1 Chit. Pr. 176.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1979AREA.
An inclosed yard or opening in a house; an open place adjoining a house. 1 Chit. Pr. 176.
In the civil law. A vacant space in a city; a place not built upon. Dig. 50, 16, 211.
The site of a house; a site for building; the space where a house has stood. The ground on which a house is built, and which remains after the house is removed. Brissonius;Calvin.
A surface, a territory, a region. Fleming v. Farmers Peanut Co., C.C.A.Ga., 128 F2d 404, 406. Any plane surface, also the inclosed space on which a building stands. A particular extent of space or surface or one serving a special purpose.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, 1991
Baker v. Carr (1962)A surface, a territory, a region. Any plane surface, also the inclosed space on which a building stands. A particular extent of space or surface or one serving a special purpose.
"While a court will not recognize a foreign government without executive recognition, and the judiciary ordinarily follows the executive as to which nation has sovereignty over disputed territory, once sovereignty over an area is politically determined and declared, courts may examine the resulting status and decide independently whether a statute applies to that area."