The GDP Map

I love maps.  I’m not sure why, but ever since I was a kid I’ve enjoyed looking at them – even fictional maps that are used to illustrate, say, works of science fiction.  Now, this map would appear to be a work of science fiction, but it’s not.  Rather, each of the US states has been renamed for the nation with a (roughly) equal gross domestic product (GDP).  As economics or sociology, it’s useless, but who cares?  It’s damn fun to look over.  Of particular interest to me are states in which I’ve lived.

• California, it is often said, would be the world’s sixth- or seventh-largest economy if it was a separate country. Actually, that would be the eighth, according to this map, as France (with a GDP of $2,15 trillion) is #8 on the aforementioned list.
• North Carolina – Sweden (GDP #20 at $371 billion)
• Arizona – Thailand (GDP #34 at $197 billion)
• Maryland – Hong Kong (#37 at $187 billion)
• New Mexico – Hungary (GDP #45 at $113 billion)

Great Britain (another of my former homes) has a GDP of $1.903 trillion (adjusted for purchasing power parity), according to the CIA fact book.  This makes it a smaller economy than California yet almost twice the size of the second largest US state, Texas.  Speaking of Texas, its GDP is roughly equal to that of my next home, Canada.