Editing 2927: Alphabetical Cartogram

{{comic
| number    = 2927
| date      = May 1, 2024
| title     = Alphabetical Cartogram
| image     = alphabetical_cartogram_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x548px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Poor Weeoming.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 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 {{w|United States}}, with every state resized based on where it appears in an alphabetical list of states. Hence {{w|Alabama}} is the largest state and {{w|Wyoming}} is the smallest.

Wyoming shrank the most, while {{w|Delaware}} grew the most proportionally in geographical size. Compared to a {{w|List of U.S. states and territories by area|ranking of US states by area}}, {{w|Texas}} dropped the most (41 places), while Delaware and {{w|Connecticut}} rose the most (also 41 places).

This coincides with a recent [https://record.umich.edu/articles/study-alphabetical-order-of-surnames-may-affect-grading/ 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, since Wyoming appears last on the alphabetical list of states.

Bias resulting from alphabetical order was also the topic of [[2789: Making Plans]].

It should be noted that the resizing is not done perfectly in the drawing. For example, {{w|Vermont}} appears slightly larger than {{w|Texas}}, and {{w|Idaho}} appears smaller than {{w|Missouri}}. The map strikes a balance between actually making the sizes of the states correspond to their alphabetical order, keeping the shapes of the states correct, and making the {{w|Contiguous United States|"lower 48"}} states fit together contiguously. The shapes of many states are significantly warped, such as {{w|Maryland}}, {{w|Delaware}}, and {{w|New York (state)|New York}} (which is lacking {{w|Long Island}}).

The table below ranks the states according to their actual size, their alphabetical order, and their approximate size as they are drawn in the comic.

===Table of states===

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"
! rowspan="3" | State                                      <!-- column 1    -->
! colspan="4" | Real Life                                  <!-- columns 2-5 -->
! colspan="2" | Listings                                   <!-- columns 6,7 -->
! colspan="3" | Actual Sizes in the<br>Comic (Approximate) <!-- columns 8-10 -->
|-
                                        <!-- column 1    -->
! colspan="2" | Total Area              <!-- columns 2,3 -->
! rowspan="2" | % of the<br/>US         <!-- column 4    -->
! rowspan="2" | Area<br/>ranking        <!-- column 5    -->
! rowspan="2" | Alphabetic<br/>ranking  <!-- column 6    -->
! rowspan="2" | Ranking<br/>adjustment  <!-- column 7    -->
! rowspan="2" | Area<br/>(pixels)       <!-- column 8    -->
! rowspan="2" | % of<br/>total          <!-- column 9    -->
! rowspan="2" | Comic<br/>ranking       <!-- column 10    -->
|-
                                        <!-- column 1     -->
! style="width:3.5em" | sq mi           <!-- column 2     -->
! style="width:3.5em" | km<sup>2</sup>  <!-- column 3     -->
                                        <!-- columns 4..7 -->
                                        <!-- columns 8..10 -->
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Alaska        ||665,384||1,723,337||17.53% || 1|| 2||data-sort-value= "+1" style="background-color:#FDD"| 1 &#9660; ||27329||4.26%||5
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Texas         ||268,596||  695,662|| 7.07% || 2||43||data-sort-value="+41" style="background-color:#F00"|41 &#9660; ||3122||0.487%||44
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|California    ||163,695||  423,970|| 4.31% || 3|| 5||data-sort-value= "+2" style="background-color:#FDD"| 2 &#9660; ||25285||3.94%||6
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Montana       ||147,040||  380,800|| 3.87% || 4||26||data-sort-value="+22" style="background-color:#F66"|22 &#9660; ||13781||2.15%||24
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|New Mexico    ||121,590||  314,915|| 3.20% || 5||31||data-sort-value="+26" style="background-color:#F55"|26 &#9660; ||9768||1.52%||29
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Arizona       ||113,990||  295,254|| 3.00% || 6|| 3||data-sort-value= "-3" style="background-color:#DFD"| 3 &#9650; ||29710||4.63%||3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Nevada        ||110,572||  286,382|| 2.91% || 7||28||data-sort-value="+21" style="background-color:#F77"|21 &#9660; ||10754||1.68%||26
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Colorado      ||104,094||  269,601|| 2.74% || 8|| 6||data-sort-value= "-2" style="background-color:#DFD"| 2 &#9650; ||27929||4.35%||4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Oregon        || 98,379||  254,806|| 2.59% || 9||37||data-sort-value="+28" style="background-color:#F44"|28 &#9660; ||6959||1.09%||36
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Wyoming       || 97,813||  253,335|| 2.58% ||10||50||data-sort-value="+40" style="background-color:#F00"|40 &#9660; ||383||0.0597%||50
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Michigan      || 96,714||  250,493|| 2.55% ||11||22||data-sort-value="+11" style="background-color:#FAA"|11 &#9660; ||10150||1.58%||27
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Minnesota     || 86,936||  225,163|| 2.29% ||12||23||data-sort-value="+11" style="background-color:#FAA"|11 &#9660; ||15491||2.42%||20
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Utah          || 84,897||  219,882|| 2.24% ||13||44||data-sort-value="+31" style="background-color:#F33"|31 &#9660; ||5035||0.785%||38
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Idaho         || 83,569||  216,443|| 2.20% ||14||12||data-sort-value= "-2" style="background-color:#DFD"| 2 &#9650; ||11253||1.75%||25
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Kansas        || 82,278||  213,100|| 2.17% ||15||16||data-sort-value= "+1" style="background-color:#FDD"| 1 &#9660; ||14515||2.26%||22
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Nebraska      || 77,348||  200,330|| 2.04% ||16||27||data-sort-value="+11" style="background-color:#FAA"|11 &#9660; ||9632||1.50%||30
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|South Dakota  || 77,116||  199,729|| 2.03% ||17||41||data-sort-value="+24" style="background-color:#F66"|24 &#9660; ||4087||0.637%||42
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Washington    || 71,298||  184,661|| 1.88% ||18||47||data-sort-value="+29" style="background-color:#F44"|29 &#9660; ||1687||0.263%||47
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|North Dakota  || 70,698||  183,108|| 1.86% ||19||34||data-sort-value="+15" style="background-color:#F99"|15 &#9660; ||9797||1.53%||28
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Oklahoma      || 69,899||  181,037|| 1.841%||20||36||data-sort-value="+16" style="background-color:#F88"|16 &#9660; ||7493||1.17%||32
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Missouri      || 69,707||  180,540||1.836%||21||25||data-sort-value= "+4" style="background-color:#FCC"| 4 &#9660; ||16016||2.50%||17
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Florida       || 65,758||  170,312|| 1.732%||22|| 9||data-sort-value="-13" style="background-color:#9F9"|13 &#9650; ||22794||3.55%||8
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Wisconsin     || 65,496||  169,635|| 1.725%||23||49||data-sort-value="+26" style="background-color:#F55"|26 &#9660; ||1098||0.171%||49
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Georgia       || 59,425||  153,910|| 1.565%||24||10||data-sort-value="-14" style="background-color:#9F9"|14 &#9650; ||20650||3.22%||9
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Illinois      || 57,914||  149,995|| 1.525%||25||13||data-sort-value="-12" style="background-color:#AFA"|12 &#9650; ||19537||3.05%||10
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Iowa          || 56,273||  145,746|| 1.482%||26||15||data-sort-value="-11" style="background-color:#AFA"|11 &#9650; ||16925||2.64%||15
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|New York      || 54,555||  141,297|| 1.437%||27||32||data-sort-value= "+5" style="background-color:#FCC"| 5 &#9660; ||7402||1.15%||34
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|North Carolina|| 53,819||  139,391|| 1.418%||28||33||data-sort-value= "+5" style="background-color:#FCC"| 5 &#9660; ||6982||1.09%||35
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Arkansas      || 53,179||  137,732|| 1.401%||29|| 4||data-sort-value="-25" style="background-color:#5F5"|25 &#9650; ||31942||4.98%||2
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Alabama       || 52,420||  135,767|| 1.381%||30|| 1||data-sort-value="-29" style="background-color:#4F4"|29 &#9650; ||34207||5.33%||1
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Louisiana     || 52,378||  135,659|| 1.380%||31||18||data-sort-value="-13" style="background-color:#9F9"|13 &#9650; ||15720||2.45%||18
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Mississippi   || 48,432||  125,438|| 1.276%||32||24||data-sort-value= "-8" style="background-color:#BFB"| 8 &#9650; ||16412||2.56%||16
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Pennsylvania  || 46,054||  119,280|| 1.213%||33||38||data-sort-value= "+5" style="background-color:#FCC"| 5 &#9660; ||6025||0.939%||37
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Ohio          || 44,826||  116,098|| 1.181%||34||35||data-sort-value= "+1" style="background-color:#FDD"| 1 &#9660; ||4865||0.759%||39
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Virginia      || 42,775||  110,787|| 1.127%||35||46||data-sort-value="+11" style="background-color:#FAA"|11 &#9660; ||1863||0.290%||46
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Tennessee     || 42,144||  109,153|| 1.110%||36||42||data-sort-value= "+6" style="background-color:#FCC"| 6 &#9660; ||4588||0.715%||40
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Kentucky      || 40,408||  104,656|| 1.064%||37||17||data-sort-value="-20" style="background-color:#7F7"|20 &#9650; ||18557||2.89%||12
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Indiana       || 36,420||   94,326|| 0.959%||38||14||data-sort-value="-24" style="background-color:#6F6"|24 &#9650; ||15719||2.45%||19
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Maine         || 35,380||   91,633|| 0.932%||39||19||data-sort-value="-20" style="background-color:#7F7"|20 &#9650; ||16950||2.64%||14
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|South Carolina|| 32,020||   82,933|| 0.843%||40||40||data-sort-value=  "0" style="background-color:#FFD"| 0 &#9664; ||4482||0.699%||41
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|West Virginia || 24,230||   62,756|| 0.638%||41||48||data-sort-value= "+7" style="background-color:#FBB"| 7 &#9660; ||1136||0.177%||48
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Maryland      || 12,406||   32,131|| 0.327%||42||20||data-sort-value="-22" style="background-color:#6F6"|22 &#9650; ||13811||2.15%||23
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Hawaii        || 10,932||   28,313|| 0.288%||43||11||data-sort-value="-32" style="background-color:#3F3"|32 &#9650; ||15000||2.34%||21
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Massachusetts || 10,554||   27,336|| 0.278%||44||21||data-sort-value="-23" style="background-color:#6F6"|23 &#9650; ||17734||2.77%||13
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Vermont       ||  9,616||   24,906|| 0.253%||45||45||data-sort-value="  0" style="background-color:#FFD"| 0 &#9664; ||2554||0.398%||45
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|New Hampshire ||  9,349||   24,214|| 0.246%||46||29||data-sort-value="-17" style="background-color:#8F8"|17 &#9650; ||8994||1.40%||31
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey    ||  8,723||   22,591|| 0.230%||47||30||data-sort-value="-17" style="background-color:#8F8"|17 &#9650; ||7432||1.16%||33
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Connecticut   ||  5,543||   14,357|| 0.146%||48|| 7||data-sort-value="-41" style="background-color:#0F0"|41 &#9650; ||24549||3.83%||7
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Delaware      ||  2,489||    6,446|| 0.066%||49|| 8||data-sort-value="-41" style="background-color:#0F0"|41 &#9650; ||19332||3.01%||11
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|Rhode Island  ||  1,545||    4,001|| 0.041%||50||39||data-sort-value="-11" style="background-color:#AFA"|11 &#9650; ||3950||0.616%||43
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
: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]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:US maps]]
[[Category:Geography]]