This map has been circulating online since January 8, 2007, and is generating lots of comment:
On the map, each state of the U.S. is named after a country that has a similar-sized GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The map was first posted online by a Norweigen blogger named Carl Størmer. He credits the map to The York Group International, but he doesn’t give a link to a specific page on their website…. maybe it’s a scan of a printed publication of theirs. A couple of days ago it was featured on the (awesome) blog, Strange Maps, with a ton of detailed analysis and commentary.
There may be inaccuracies and “unfair comparisons” in the map, but this is infotainment at its best: Merging statistics, geopolitics and state pride in a simple black and white graphic. Read some of the commentary this has generated on sites like Fark or Metafilter and you’ll see what I mean. Part of the strong appeal of this graphic could be that it literally “brings the world home” to Americans… considering that many of us have a hard enough time locating some of the other U.S. states on a map, let alone foreign countries.
JULY UPDATE: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/07/06/135-update-on-the-gdp-map-of-the-usa/
Filed under: Cartography, Diversions
