Dear lord, why is it that so many US maps have Maine much farther north than Minnesota? (places, map)

[Screen]

And then people are surprised to learn that Minnesota has the northernmost point of the continental US.

United States Map - Nations Online Project

[dxdtdemon]

It has to do with trying to project an oblate spheroid onto a flat surface. The edges of the map get more distorted, and therefore Maine appears further north.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by dxdtdemon

It has to do with trying to project an oblate spheroid onto a flat surface. The edges of the map get more distorted, and therefore Maine appears further north.

Yeah. Curvature of the Earth and such.

[hamellr]

Same reason Greenland and Iceland look like huge places on a globe.

[Mike1306]

The map you posted shows Maine well below Minnesota, I don't recall seeing any maps that are in error with the latitude and longitude of Maine. Maybe you can post a map that shows this error

[Marat]

Originally Posted by Screen

And then people are surprised to learn that Minnesota has the northernmost point of the continental US.

United States Map - Nations Online Project

Actually it is contiguous US. Alaska is part of the continent. We all know what you meant though.

[RC01]

Fun fact: Greenland is actually about 1/8 to 1/9 the size of South America, but looks bigger on many maps due to how it was projected and its northern locatoin.

[JoeTarheel]

It's an outrage. Give Minnesota some recognition!

[SouthCali4LifeSD]

the map you posted is accurate. do you see the 50' longitude circle at the top? the northernmost tip of maine is much lower from the line than the northernmost tip of minnesota.

[jtur88]

OP, instead of showing us an accurate map, why not show us one of those many many examples of maps that shows Maine extending north of Minnesota.