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     as well as [[List of all comics]], which is obviously not a comic page. -->
 
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remain. '''[[Help:How to add a new comic explanation|Add yours]]''' while there's a chance!
 
remain. '''[[Help:How to add a new comic explanation|Add yours]]''' while there's a chance!
 
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Revision as of 15:36, 20 March 2013

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Alphabetical Cartogram
Poor Weeoming.
Title text: Poor Weeoming.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: 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 United States, with every state resized based on where it appears in an alphabetical list of states. Hence Alabama is the largest state and Wyoming is the smallest.

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

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, 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, Vermont appears slightly larger than Texas, and Idaho appears smaller than 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 "lower 48" states fit together contiguously. The shapes of many states are significantly warped, such as Maryland, Delaware, and New York (which is lacking 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

State Real Life Listings Actual Sizes
in the Comic
Total Area  % of the
US 		Area
ranking 		Alphabetic
ranking 		Ranking
adjustment 		Area
(pixels) 		 % of
total 		Comic
ranking
sq mi km2
Alaska 665,384 1,723,337 17.53% 1 2 1 ▼ 27329 4.26% 5
Texas 268,596 695,662 7.07% 2 43 41 ▼ 3122 0.487% 44
California 163,695 423,970 4.31% 3 5 2 ▼ 25285 3.94% 6
Montana 147,040 380,800 3.87% 4 26 22 ▼ 13781 2.15% 24
New Mexico 121,590 314,915 3.20% 5 31 26 ▼ 9768 1.52% 29
Arizona 113,990 295,254 3.00% 6 3 3 ▲ 29710 4.63% 3
Nevada 110,572 286,382 2.91% 7 28 21 ▼ 10754 1.68% 26
Colorado 104,094 269,601 2.74% 8 6 2 ▲ 27929 4.35% 4
Oregon 98,379 254,806 2.59% 9 37 28 ▼ 6959 1.09% 36
Wyoming 97,813 253,335 2.58% 10 50 40 ▼ 383 0.0597% 50
Michigan 96,714 250,493 2.55% 11 22 11 ▼ 10150 1.58% 27
Minnesota 86,936 225,163 2.29% 12 23 11 ▼ 15491 2.42% 20
Utah 84,897 219,882 2.24% 13 44 31 ▼ 5035 0.785% 38
Idaho 83,569 216,443 2.20% 14 12 2 ▲ 11253 1.75% 25
Kansas 82,278 213,100 2.17% 15 16 1 ▼ 14515 2.26% 22
Nebraska 77,348 200,330 2.04% 16 27 11 ▼ 9632 1.50% 30
South Dakota 77,116 199,729 2.03% 17 41 24 ▼ 4087 0.637% 42
Washington 71,298 184,661 1.88% 18 47 29 ▼ 1687 0.263% 47
North Dakota 70,698 183,108 1.86% 19 34 15 ▼ 9797 1.53% 28
Oklahoma 69,899 181,037 1.841% 20 36 16 ▼ 7493 1.17% 32
Missouri 69,707 180,540 1.836% 21 25 4 ▼ 16016 2.50% 17
Florida 65,758 170,312 1.732% 22 9 13 ▲ 22794 3.55% 8
Wisconsin 65,496 169,635 1.725% 23 49 26 ▼ 1098 0.171% 49
Georgia 59,425 153,910 1.565% 24 10 14 ▲ 20650 3.22% 9
Illinois 57,914 149,995 1.525% 25 13 12 ▲ 19537 3.05% 10
Iowa 56,273 145,746 1.482% 26 15 11 ▲ 16925 2.64% 15
New York 54,555 141,297 1.437% 27 32 5 ▼ 7402 1.15% 34
North Carolina 53,819 139,391 1.418% 28 33 5 ▼ 6982 1.09% 35
Arkansas 53,179 137,732 1.401% 29 4 25 ▲ 31942 4.98% 2
Alabama 52,420 135,767 1.381% 30 1 29 ▲ 34207 5.33% 1
Louisiana 52,378 135,659 1.380% 31 18 13 ▲ 15720 2.45% 18
Mississippi 48,432 125,438 1.276% 32 24 8 ▲ 16412 2.56% 16
Pennsylvania 46,054 119,280 1.213% 33 38 5 ▼ 6025 0.939% 37
Ohio 44,826 116,098 1.181% 34 35 1 ▼ 4865 0.759% 39
Virginia 42,775 110,787 1.127% 35 46 11 ▼ 1863 0.290% 46
Tennessee 42,144 109,153 1.110% 36 42 6 ▼ 4588 0.715% 40
Kentucky 40,408 104,656 1.064% 37 17 20 ▲ 18557 2.89% 12
Indiana 36,420 94,326 0.959% 38 14 24 ▲ 15719 2.45% 19
Maine 35,380 91,633 0.932% 39 19 20 ▲ 16950 2.64% 14
South Carolina 32,020 82,933 0.843% 40 40 0 ◀ 4482 0.699% 41
West Virginia 24,230 62,756 0.638% 41 48 7 ▼ 1136 0.177% 48
Maryland 12,406 32,131 0.327% 42 20 22 ▲ 13811 2.15% 23
Hawaii 10,932 28,313 0.288% 43 11 32 ▲ 15000 2.34% 21
Massachusetts 10,554 27,336 0.278% 44 21 23 ▲ 17734 2.77% 13
Vermont 9,616 24,906 0.253% 45 45 0 ◀ 2554 0.398% 45
New Hampshire 9,349 24,214 0.246% 46 29 17 ▲ 8994 1.40% 31
New Jersey 8,723 22,591 0.230% 47 30 17 ▲ 7432 1.16% 33
Connecticut 5,543 14,357 0.146% 48 7 41 ▲ 24549 3.83% 7
Delaware 2,489 6,446 0.066% 49 8 41 ▲ 19332 3.01% 11
Rhode Island 1,545 4,001 0.041% 50 39 11 ▲ 3950 0.616% 43

Transcript

Ambox notice.png 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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