Public land refers to any land that is owned by the government and is open to public use for recreational or other purposes. However, there may be different terms used to describe public land depending on the location and the purpose of the land. Some common synonyms for public land include state land, national land, government land, and parkland. State land usually refers to land owned by the state government while national land refers to land owned by the federal government. Government land can be used to describe any land owned by any level of government while parkland refers to land set aside for recreational purposes.