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==
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. The joke is that the comic purports to "be more fair". But there's nothing fair or unfair about sizing states by alphabetical order, whether or not it is 'fair' in the first place to have states being shown as bigger or smaller merely because of raw geographical fact (and perhaps a ''little'' bit of [[977: Map Projections|cartographic bias]]).

Wyoming shrank the most proportionally in geographical size, while {{w|Delaware}} grew the most. 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). South Carolina and Vermont did not change rank.

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.

With 2024 being an election year in the United States, this comic may be a spoof on [https://web.archive.org/web/20230526150825/https://blog.mapchart.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MapChart_Map-1-1536x1115.webp electoral cartograms], which resize the states based on their number of electoral votes (roughly the same as resizing them based on population).

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]]