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| Alphabetical Cartogram |
 Title text: Poor Weeoming. |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by an SUSPICIOUSLY SMALLER-THAN-USUAL BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. |
This comic shows a map of the United States, with every state resized based on where it appears in an alphabetical list of states. Hence Alabama is the largest state, Wyoming is the smallest.
Wyoming shrank the most, while Delaware grew the largest proportionally.
This coincides with a recent study from the University of Michigan showing that the alphabetical order of surnames leads to differences in grading.
The title text creates a portmanteau of the words “wee,” which means “little,” and “Wyoming,” making fun of how small it is on this map.
Bias resulting from alphabetical order was also the topic of 2789: Making Plans.
Table of states
| # | States by Size | States Alphabetically |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | Alabama |
| 2 | Texas | Alaska |
| 3 | California | Arizona |
| 4 | Montana | Arkansas |
| 5 | New Mexico | California |
| 6 | Arizona | Colorado |
| 7 | Nevada | Connecticut |
| 8 | Colorado | Delaware |
| 9 | Oregon | Florida |
| 10 | Wyoming | Georgia |
| 11 | Michigan | Hawaii |
| 12 | Minnesota | Idaho |
| 13 | Utah | Illinois |
| 14 | Idaho | Indiana |
| 15 | Kansas | Iowa |
| 16 | Nebraska | Kansas |
| 17 | South Dakota | Kentucky |
| 18 | Washington | Louisiana |
| 19 | North Dakota | Maine |
| 20 | Oklahoma | Maryland |
| 21 | Missouri | Massachusetts |
| 22 | Florida | Michigan |
| 23 | Wisconsin | Minnesota |
| 24 | Georgia | Mississippi |
| 25 | Illinois | Missouri |
| 26 | Iowa | Montana |
| 27 | New York | Nebraska |
| 28 | North Carolina | Nevada |
| 29 | Arkansas | New Hampshire |
| 30 | Alabama | New Jersey |
| 31 | Louisiana | New Mexico |
| 32 | Mississippi | New York |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | North Carolina |
| 34 | Ohio | North Dakota |
| 35 | Virginia | Ohio |
| 36 | Tennessee | Oklahoma |
| 37 | Kentucky | Oregon |
| 38 | Indiana | Pennsylvania |
| 39 | Maine | Rhode Island |
| 40 | South Carolina | South Carolina |
| 41 | West Virginia | South Dakota |
| 42 | Maryland | Tennessee |
| 43 | Hawaii | Texas |
| 44 | Massachusetts | Utah |
| 45 | Vermont | Vermont |
| 46 | New Hampshire | Virginia |
| 47 | New Jersey | Washington |
| 48 | Connecticut | West Virginia |
| 49 | Delaware | Wisconsin |
| 50 | Rhode Island | Wyoming |
Transcript
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This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks. |
- A More Fair Map
- Instead of giving more area to larger states, this map improves fairness by sizing the states alphabetically.
- [A labeled map of the United States where states are resized based on their alphabetical order]
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