Mappin' the Land Part I: From Sea to Shining Sea

Last night, _____, _____ and I applied ourselves to the task of producing hand-drawn maps. The results were at once entertaining, appalling and intriguing. You shall soon see why.

Subject #1 hails from the Northeast portion of the U.S.A.; this is her map of the United States.

 

Her knowledge of the Northeast, as you can see, is pretty solid. She also appears to have a pretty firm grasp of the size of each state and their spatial relations with one another. There is a gap in her map, but the Midwest, after all, is flyover country.

Subject #2 is similarly a Nor'easterner. Apparently, however, "Nor'easterner" doesn't mean much of anything. I assume, therefore, that you will understand what I mean based on context.

 

The issues that this subject has concerning the shapes of states are clearly not a result of provincialism, since the erroneously shaped states are not limited to non-East Coast regions. However, her difficulty with the positioning of a number of western states is likely a result of looking at too few maps.

Subject #3 is a native of the beautiful state of Minnesota. He enjoys lutefisk, tobogganing, farming and brats. This is his map.

 

One interesting notion this reveals is that the Northeast is complicated! Natives of the region usually don't think about the disparity between the tiny squiggly lines that pervade the East Coast and the blocky squareness of everything west of the Mississippi. But we East Coasters really do have it easy. All we have to do is figure out the huge quadrilaterals on the left side of the map. So let's get a move on, folks. We should really get rid of those gaping holes.

Coming up next: East Asia!