Tired of little states being over-represented in the Senate? Do you wish that all states had equal electoral vote power in national elections? Neil Freeman at
Fake is the New Real has a solution.
Redraw all fifty states so that they have relatively equal populations:

Interestingly, the only state that gets to keep most of its original shape is Missouri. Does that mean the Missouri already has the "perfect" population to represent 1/50 of the US population?
Via The Map Room
I wonder if the author realizes that "Sohio" was the name that Standard Oil gave to its Ohio gas stations back in the day?
ReplyDeleteI thought of that too. I guess everything about Missouri is "typical America". I wonder if he started his map with Missouri, then drew the rest of the map from there...
ReplyDeleteIn answer to the comments- Yes, interesting but only a coincidence, and no.
ReplyDeleteCartophiliac, you're using a stale version of the map. Could you update the image in the post to the newer one?
New version uploaded... I hadn't noticed the difference.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I rescale it down to fit my page (500px) it really looks like crap.
Any tips?
There... I tweaked it a bit. It looks a little better.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Washington/Olympia keeps most of its shape too?
ReplyDeleteBreaking the U.S. into 13 states of equal population was actually proposed during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, kind of whimsically, as a way to resolve the debate about equal representation vs. representation by population. This map is certainly a stellar effort, although I'm sure you'll have your share of nitpickers -- Why not unite the two Kansas Cities? Shouldn't Toledo be with Detroit? How will we differentiate between Erie County, PA and Erie County, NY, let alone the city of Erie, now that they're all in the State of Erie?
ReplyDeleteI love the details of this map. Cumberland has taken on an interesting form from Kentucky. It retains its characteristic baseline. The dynamic angled slant between the former California and Nevada is still there. Poor Texas is gone with its trademark heroic form, but it still has the multiple shelf lines. Oh Pennsylvania, poor Pennsylvania has been blown to smithereens.
ReplyDeleteI am happy now be to be theorectically in the state of Chicago liberated from the urban-hating southern Illinoisians.
Having grown up in Green Bay (now live in Fond du Lac, about 70 mi. south), I would be proud to say I live in the state of Green Bay, dontcha know hey. :D
ReplyDeleteCheeseheads of the world, unite!
ReplyDeleteWillamette! Willamette! Once again I'm in a state that no one is going to pronounce correctly.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, who gets Alaska and Hawaii?
Are you saying your are from Ore-Gone?
ReplyDeleteClick through to the original post of the map's author. He addresses AK & HI (they are added into the states of Olympia and Coronado, respectively).