Interesting US Maps, Part 2

Ready for more interesting US maps? Here are five more that I found fascinating. 

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I love etymology. It's absolutely fascinating to learn what the names of each state and capital mean. My favorites are Sky-Tinted Water (Minnesota) and A Good Place to Dig Potatoes (Topeka). 

 

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In our travels, I've heard numerous people say they're afraid to come to California because of the earthquakes. First, I've lived here for 54 years and have only experienced three significant earthquakes, none of which caused any damage where I was. Your chances of dying or being injured in an earthquake in California are tiny. Second, I've never heard anyone say they avoid Hawaii because of earthquakes, yet the magnitudes of the strongest-ever recorded earthquakes in California and Hawaii are the same: 7.9. Curious why Wisconsin is greyed out? Here's the answer. 

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I've never thought, "Gosh, I wonder what US capital city is closest to me right now?" while traveling, yet I can't take my eyes off this map. Look at Kansas - only about 1/4 of the land is closest to the capital city of Topeka and the remaining 3/4 is split between the capitals of Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma. I grew up about 85 miles from our Sacramento and live about 45 miles from Sacramento now, so it's completely foreign to me not to have easy access to our capital. 

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This map is similar, except it shows the closest world capital. It's funny how normal it seems to me to be close to my state capital, yet I'm about as far away from the national capital as I could be. In fact, not only is Mexico City closest to here, Ottawa is almost exactly the same distance from me as Washington DC is. Check out Alaska! Reykjavik?! Tokyo?! So interesting!

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It's very interesting to see which cities The Associated Press consider well-known enough to not need their state name. They're not necessarily the most populous cities - Forth Worth (the 10th largest city in the US) needs Texas as an identifier. San Jose is the 13th biggest city in the US but could be confused with the capital of Costa Rica and thus needs California with it. 

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I will never not love maps. What about you? Let me know in the comments what you found the most interesting!