Just realized people keep putting Alaska in the wrong spot on US maps

I've been seeing a lot of maps where Alaska is either way too small or placed down by Hawaii like it's some island chain. It's weird because Alaska is huge and sits way up northwest, not floating off the coast of California. I used to work on a fishing boat near Dutch Harbor for 3 summers, so I know the area. The size scale is always off too, they shrink it down to like a quarter of what it should be compared to Texas. Some cartographers argue it's for layout convenience, but then it just looks stupid and misleads people. Which side do you fall on, is it okay to move Alaska for a clean design or does it ruin the whole map's accuracy?

2 comments

2 Comments

barnes.jamie3d ago

Nope, maps are for accuracy. Moving Alaska makes the whole thing useless.

oliver2423d ago

Overthinking it @barnes.jamie. Isn't a map's job to show RELATIONSHIPS not precise locations?