As I said, very mundane and pointless. But I just found this map and I thought it was cool because you so rarely see maps of the United States that show the entire country. Alaska and Hawaii usually get stuck in little side-maps in the corners.
You’d be surprised that there are actually people … like a cousin of mine … who actually think Alaska and Hawaii are right off the coast of California and Mexico.
I like that perspective, Little Nemo. As already noted, some folks don’t realize how enormous Alaska is because of the space-saving maps from our geography books in grade school.
This map doesn’t actually show Alaska’s correct relative size, though. It’s a projection (Mercator projection?) that “spreads out” the polar regions, making them appear larger than they are.
That is cool.
I was wondering how accurate it is, both in terms of Alaska’s comparative size, and Alaska’s and Hawaii’s relative distance from the lower 48.
Ah. Duly noted.
It’s not the Mercator projection. I don’t think it’s an equal-area projection, but it does seem to distort area much less than the Mercator projection.
I think it’s pretty accurate. Here’s a map of Alaska superimposed on the continental United States at the same scale.
Here is Alaska superimposed on the continental 48. The OP’s map doesn’t look that much different.
You want real unusual maps? This is one of my favorite sites, just go back through the blog posts.
I find it interesting that the map includes a selection of important cities such as New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Prudhoe Bay (of which Google suggests the current population is 5).
One big problem I see is that Alaska is separated from the rest of the U.S. by some other land. I suggest that we annex that land so that it is easier to drive straight to Alaska without being forced to go to places of different colors. Before this map, I am not sure if other people noticed that.
But then what would America use for a hat?
Sure, now. But you should have seen the place during Spring Break.
…but, but… we’re also separated from Hawaii by some land (well, pretty soggy land) that’s a different color… blue…
…and I’ve been through that other land you’ve talked about. I dunno, they seem a little too civilized for 'merkin tastes. Seems dangerous, not the kind of thing we’d ever want to accidently get exposed to.
The map still doesn’t include places like Guam and the US Minor Outlying Islands.
HA! that made me giggle 
Canada could still be considered a hat. It would just be worn at a rakish angle.
This map comes from the CIA World Factbook (a great reference). The United States territories are listed in the Factbook separately from the United States itself (as are all territories of nations).
The same thing used to annoy me about USA state jigsaw puzzles as a kid. I once saw someone with a puzzle of all of North America, which put Alaska in its right place. Was never able to find it in a store, though.
Dear lord…there’s a blog for everything isn’t there? 