[OS X TeX] what is the "current context paper size"?

[Richard Talley]

When I install TeXLive I always configure it to default to an American
'letter' paper size. I noticed today that if I run 'tlmgr paper' at the
command line I get this:

Current context paper size (from
/usr/local/texlive/2015/texmf-config/tex/context/user/cont-sys.tex): a4
Current dvipdfmx paper size (from
/usr/local/texlive/2015/texmf-config/dvipdfmx/dvipdfmx.cfg): letter
Current dvips paper size (from
/usr/local/texlive/2015/texmf-config/dvips/config/config.ps): letter
Current pdftex paper size (from
/usr/local/texlive/2015/texmf-config/tex/generic/config/pdftexconfig.tex):
letter
Current psutils paper size (from
/usr/local/texlive/2015/texmf-config/psutils/paper.cfg): letter
Current xdvi paper size (from
/usr/local/texlive/2015/texmf-config/xdvi/XDvi): letter

This is just a 'I'm curious' rather than a 'I'm having a problem' question.
What does the 'current context paper size' signify & why is it different
from the other defaults?

-- Rich
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