In geopolitical theory, the term ‘Heartland’ refers to the area between the Volga and Yangtze rivers, and between the Himalaya and the Arctic regions. According to H.J. Mackinder’s 1904 article The Geographical Pivot of History, this area was of paramount geopolitical importance due to its crucial position within what he called the World-Island (i.e. Europe, Asia and Africa). Mackinder summarised his ‘Heartland Theory’ thus: “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island controls the world.”
Mackinder’s theory emanated from a late-19th century vision of wars being decided by massive, land-based troop movements (speeded up by rail transport). The theory proved valuable as a context (or even a justification) for Germany’s push into the Soviet Union during the Second World War, and to a certain extent as a frame of reference during the Cold War. But one can wonder how relevant it remained, with the development of highly destructive long-range air raids as a major component of modern warfare.
Another use of the term ‘Heartland’ is as shorthand for the giant Hinterland of the United States. This American Heartland is not totally identical to its obvious geographic manifestation – i.e. the flyover states, the vast, landlocked bulk of the country without its more populated, urbane Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It also a symbolic concept, referring to an essentialist vision of an America where an apple pie is forever cooling on the window-sill. This America is less defined by geography than by nostalgia; a Heartland that is not merely a place, but also a yearning - for a country still defined by pioneering spirit and small-town values.
The heartland portrayed here is a very literal one, composed by cleverly arranging all 50 US states to have their oblique sides help form the outline of a giant heart. Texas’ pointy southern extremity represents the bottom part of the iconic heart-shape, while the slightly wedge-shaped top of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is very aptly chosen as the place where the tops of both heart halves merge. All in all, this picture is a very nice fit – considering that all states are drawn to the same scale.
Many thanks to Casey T. for pointing out this (he)artwork, originally titled ‘States United’ (although the artist, Beauchamping, inevitably also considered ‘Heartland’). The original context of the work is here, on the website www.etsy.com, a “global vintage and handmade marketplace”.
I love it. I want it in shirt form.
Comment by montiff — July 27, 2009 @ 3:53 am
This is real artistry. I like how Hawaii sways correctly as the right hump of the heart. This diagram shows how Alaska dwarfs every other state.
Comment by orleebaldedara — July 27, 2009 @ 4:00 am
I was wondering if the states were to the same scale before I read what was written, but came to the conclusion that they weren’t. Delaware looked too small compared to Maryland, and in fact when I zoomed in on the image, Delaware is a few pixels too short and a pixel or two too narrow to be at the same scale as Maryland.
Delaware should be taller than the notch in the side of Maryland, but Delaware is anywhere from 2 – 6 pixels too short to be taller than that part of Maryland, depending on how you factor in the anti-aliasing (I’d probably say 3 or 4 pixels too short). It may seem really nit-picky of me to compare the height of those states in pixels, but it was more that I was just curious if the scale was the same and there was some sort of optical illusion happening, or if the scale was a little off.
Other states didn’t look right to my eye, either, but those were just cases of never really having seen those states next to each other, like Georgia and Missouri. I thought Missouri would have been bigger than that compared to Georgia.
Comment by Daniel — July 27, 2009 @ 4:29 am
It’s definitely not to scale. Look at Massachusetts next to New York. The whole state of Massachusetts appears to be just barely larger than Long Island, when it is in fact 7.5 times larger.
Comment by Marc — July 27, 2009 @ 5:00 am
Those ugly toes are way too distracting.
Comment by trombus grigsbee — July 27, 2009 @ 5:03 am
Washington is too big next to Idaho too. But hey, cool design anyway.
Comment by Rey Fox — July 27, 2009 @ 5:35 am
Also to the credit of the makers: the states seem to be unrotated.
Comment by Wendel — July 27, 2009 @ 7:05 am
The scale may vary, but using all the states in the same orientation is a feat.
Comment by Rich Rostrom — July 27, 2009 @ 7:17 am
Note the toes gripping the floor at the photographer leans forward.
Comment by Mike — July 27, 2009 @ 9:56 am
[...] Strange Maps on heartlands and homelands [...]
Pingback by Jay Lake: [links] Link salad wanders into another Monday — July 27, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
“All drawn to the same scale” may in fact mean all drawn in the same projection. Map projections all have distortion, and distortion of area may be at play in this projection. This could explain the size discrepancies some of you are finding.
Comment by Gus Snarp — July 27, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
The source website says the states are “proportional” which in technical terms would seem to mean their sizes should be accurate, but the artist likely took the sizes from a particular map, so projection could still be the issue.
Comment by Gus Snarp — July 27, 2009 @ 3:17 pm
Where is the District of Columbia? Also, why don’t maps of the United States usually include our nonincorporated possessions, like Puerto Rico, American Somoa, and Guam?
Comment by BullMooser08 — July 27, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
@13: Probasly because they would be totally invisible. Look @ Maryland and see if adding DC would even appear on the map. Same for Guam, etc. Puerto Rico, mayble. However it’s probably limited to states so the title “States United” works out.
A further note on NY: What’s the huge notch cut out of it for?!
Also, why is Vermont smaller than New Hampshire? They border each other and are exactly the same “height”.
Comment by Lurker — July 28, 2009 @ 12:52 am
[...] via strangemaps.wordpress.com Tags: interesting things This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]
Pingback by megan koss » Homeland Is Where the Heartland Is — July 28, 2009 @ 1:26 am
I love how VT and NH are inseparable on maps like these.
@Lurker NH is taller than VT, they are both bounded by Massachusetts on the south, but VT stops at the 45th Parallel going north, where NH sticks up farther. There is even one spot where you can drive north from VT into NH over the 45th parallel.
Comment by Rob Ryan — July 28, 2009 @ 1:42 am
[...] [...]
Pingback by What Off-Topic threads are for... - Page 245 - StrafeRight Forums — July 28, 2009 @ 2:21 am
Mackinder’s analysis appears to remain much loved by strategic analysts in London and Washington, at least to judge by the current Anglo-American strategic stance in Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe.
Oh and, despite fervent wishes of various and sundry Air Force generals to the contrary, wars cannot be won with terror bombing alone. Ground troops remain a requirement. As the Americans discovered to their considerable embarrassment in the Balkans at the start of this decade.
(Caveat: All of the above applies only for certain values of “winning” – the only real winners in a serious land war between modern industrial great powers are the neutral parties, who avoid having their population and industrial plant decimated. The last serious land war between major powers that had a clear-cut winner among the primary belligerents was the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. And since the mass deployment of assault rifles, even colonial wars like Afghanistan or Viet Nam have become decidedly risky ventures.)
- Jake
Comment by JakeS — July 28, 2009 @ 2:35 am
Which one’s Colorado and which one’s Wyoming?
Comment by Mike — July 28, 2009 @ 2:40 am
I’m guessing that Wyoming is the higher one, the one with more of a curve in its northern and southern border.
Comment by godozo — July 28, 2009 @ 3:00 am
Jake,
Please define “terror bombing.” I assume you mean bombs dropped from planes where there is the chance (opposed to a guarantee) of collateral damage. This is of course compared to the slightly more indiscriminate shelling of villages with ground power. Terror is an adjective that can be applied to just about any military action in some shape or form. Dropping propaganda leaflets could be considered terrorizing.
Also, what war were Americans fighting at the start of this decade in the Balkans in which they were embarassed by not having troops on hand? I know they were pretty involved there last decade, but don’t recall any open shame from then other than they wish they’d have helped intervene sooner.
Comment by BAT — July 28, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Jake – It’s not Mackinder’s heartland that London and Washington are concerned about, it’s access to fossil fuels.
Comment by Gus Snarp — July 28, 2009 @ 12:53 pm
@16: I see. The fact that VT was moved up was what confused me; the map is correct.
I suspect they “go together” because, together, they form a almost perfect square.
Comment by Lurker — July 28, 2009 @ 5:03 pm
Let’s be honest. The term “Heartland” as it refers to America is a meaningless, fluffy term created and used by advertisers. Ask anyone in the Midwest if they are from the “Heartland” and you will get a blank stare.
“Heartland” is yet another term to describe “Flyover Country.” According to the American elite (who are concentrated on the East or West Coasts), Flyover Country (the rest of the USA) is inhabited by “peasants,” “the great unwashed,” and “yahoos in the hustings.”
Therefore, the word “Heartland” is not an endearing term.
Comment by Bourgoise Pig — July 28, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
[...] Strange Maps on the Idea of ‘Heartland’ [...]
Pingback by Links of the Day (7/28/09) | my five year plan. — July 28, 2009 @ 6:48 pm
[...] StrangeMaps: All 50 states, arranged into a heart. ♥ Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Lights no moreSpace, I Mean, Alaska, the [...]
Pingback by Teeming along the road that is north to the future « by Erin Ptah — July 28, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
Reminds me of this artist I saw in Topeka, KS who created a collection of the 50 states, each represented by a food or plate or something related to food. You can check them out here http://www.shorthandedstudio.com/the-united-plates/
Oh, BTW, I’m from the Heartland.
Comment by kcb — July 28, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
Most Americans couldn’t bake an apple pie to save their life.
Comment by BigD145 — July 28, 2009 @ 10:23 pm
thanks for the inclusion within this interesting read. just to clarify about the proportions of the states…for the most part, they’re all to scale. a few of the western islands off alaska fell into the sea and the occasional state may have been slightly enlarged vertically or horizontally to reduce negative space. i blame the shifting plates under our feet. as for dc…it would have been but a speck and may have snuck in there somewhere, but it’s not listed. vermont is actually smaller than new hampshire and wyoming is the squarish one above alaska, colorado is the equally squarish one below it. and as for the feet, a lesson in contrast, anything is beautiful next to those things. cheers, gregory.
Comment by beauchamping — July 29, 2009 @ 12:50 am
What a thoughtful preamble. And the toes are not distracting.
Comment by bbadinov — July 29, 2009 @ 10:09 am
Love it!
Comment by visualingual — July 29, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
I don’t even like apple pie.
And yeah that notch missing from NY is really weird and wrong considering that everything else looks pretty normal, except for scale.
Alaska might be a little small since Montana, Cali, and Texas should be able to fit within it.
Comment by Brooklyn — July 29, 2009 @ 5:55 pm
@21: Terror bombing is the indiscriminate bombardment of cities and other mostly civilian installations. Largely synonymous with the term “strategic bombing,” except that the use of white phosphor or other chemical or incendiary weapons over civilian population centres also qualifies as terror bombing, irrespective of whether it is used strategically or tactically. For examples, see Fallujah, Beograd, Gaza and Tskhinvali and the opening phase of an urban offensive under the American Shock and Awe doctrine.
As opposed to tactical air and/or artillery strikes in response to solid data obtained by people on the ground, or bombing of bridges, airports and other sparsely inhabited installations that are of considerable military value.
Whether tactical air strikes against questionable targets, based on questionable data and/or using disproportional payload (see, e.g., Israel’s assassinations of Hamas politicians) qualify as terror bombing is a matter of taste. I personally prefer to refer to it as assassination, since it is based on tactical data and does not involve the kind of carpet bombing usually associated with terror bombing.
Dropping leaflets advocating civilian evacuation before an impending offensive is not terror bombing, but may qualify as a form of ethnic cleansing in some circumstances. See, e.g., the trials of a some Serbian generals concerning – in part – the dissemination of threatening propaganda for the purpose of relocating civilians from disfavoured ethnic groups during the wars following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early ’90s.
The war I refer to as an embarrassment is the Kosova crisis in ‘01. During this crisis, NATO intervened on behalf of the Kosova Liberation Army (itself a decision that is not entirely above reproach – the KLA is a pretty shady outfit; had it been operating out of Golan or Gaza, it would almost certainly have been designated a terrorist organisation).
This intervention initially took the form of a campaign of terror bombing against Beograd, and largely unsuccessful tactical strikes against Yugoslav forces in Kosova (leaked British data indicates that no serious losses were inflicted and that the Yugoslav army’s ability to prosecute war was essentially unimpaired). This provided the necessary political cover for Milošević to launch a campaign of outright ethnic cleansing in Kosova, which did not end until he was faced with a credible threat of a ground invasion.
@22: There is no significant amount of fossil fuels in Central Asia outside Russia, and what there is cannot be reliably extracted due to the political situation in the countries involved (they are mostly nasty, unstable (semi-)dictatorships – and while Western resource extraction does not mind “nasty” or “dictatorship,” “unstable” is a show-stopper due to the capital costs involved).
The only way I can get current Western policy in Central Asia to make any sense is as part of a strategy of belligerent encirclement of Russia.
- Jake
Comment by JakeS — July 29, 2009 @ 6:23 pm
I wouldn’t trust a pie cooling on a window sill; use a pie safe!
Comment by Lurker — July 29, 2009 @ 6:31 pm
might be difficult to create such a heart with the federal states of Australia.
but it worked quite good with the Swiss cantons: http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/172/swissheart.png
Comment by Lars — July 30, 2009 @ 9:14 am
Why the need for a legend? Is seems that everyone here is able to identify the various states.
I think it would be better to leave it out as an exercise for the reader.
I like cherry pie better…
Comment by Rob Platt — July 30, 2009 @ 10:11 am
Why the need for a legend? Is seems that everyone here is able to identify the various states.
Well, everyone who posts in this forum is, almost by definition, a bit of a cartography geek. The percentage of the general population able to ID all of them from a blank outline would probably be lower.
Comment by zeppflyer — July 30, 2009 @ 10:42 am
The artist already pointed out above that some states were stretched or squashed a bit, but just to point out; projection issues wouldn’t account for a difference between Maryland and Delaware as DE is surrounded on 2 of 3 sides by MD. The borders should look the same.
Comment by zeppflyer — July 30, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Interesting, another rearrangement of states into an image has been posted to boing boing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/30/skull-a-day-gallery.html
Comment by k8 — July 30, 2009 @ 3:23 pm
Jake – this gets into a question of the actual boundaries of “Central Asia” or the “heartland”. If we take the boundaries described here (Volga, Yang Tze, Himalaya, Arctic) you get a rectangle that includes parts of Iran and Iraq, which do have oil in significant quantities as well as the Caspian Sea region which has oil and natural gas. Pipeline routes from the Caspian Sea to transport oil and natural gas play a significant role in Central Asia policy. Central Asia also provides a strategic location with regard to the entire Middle East, with Afghanistan bordering Iran and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan providing excellent locations from which to launch air strikes against targets in the middle east. Again, it is all about fossil fuels, you just have to see the strategic picture around that oil, including proximity to Middle East oil fields and access to oil and gas pipelines.
Comment by Gus Snarp — July 30, 2009 @ 3:23 pm
Same principle, slightly different idea: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/30/skull-a-day-gallery.html
I’m totally bummed out for not being able to come up with a skull-related pun on “heartland”…
Comment by Blinde Schildpad — July 30, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
No toes!
Comment by Quiddity — July 30, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
@40, the pipelines from the Caspian are, and you should excuse the pun, a pipe dream. The Caspian gas is under Russian control and Russia already has enough pipelines to serve their export needs. So there is neither economic nor political sense in building more pipelines.
The proximity to other strategically interesting areas is actually what I was refering to as “belligerent encirclement.” But you’re right that it’s not just belligerent encirclement of Russia – it’s also about encirclement of Iran and a couple of other places.
I’m a little more sceptical about the rest of the Near East – the US has plenty of carrier task forces, and while they can’t go up against Iran and hope to get back home to brag about it (choke points like the straits of Hormuz are death traps to stand-off ships like fleet carriers), they are perfectly sufficient for the purpose of bombing the kind of defenceless third-world countries that populate most of the Near East.
- Jake
Comment by JakeS — July 30, 2009 @ 9:48 pm
beautiful and appropriate. i agree with the other poster, would make an awesome t-shirt.
and to all the haters… just be glad you don’t have a Stalin statue in your town square. but i guess asking the tin-foil hat wearing euros to show some respect would be like asking a dog to do algebra.
we all know what wonderful world citizens the europeans have been over the centuries… isn’t it wonderful we have them now to advise us on how to be equally as great world citizens. hypocrites.
Comment by lostalex — July 31, 2009 @ 8:30 pm
Well, the legend would very helpful to me. As a German, even though I can identify the states by name (I could possibly create a complete list without looking them up, given an hour or two), I recognize only three – Texas, Alaska, California – and I would’ve guess Washington. But would have guessed incorrectly.
Comment by Peter Brülls — August 1, 2009 @ 1:57 am
just to clarify about the purpose of the legend…the print is actually created as a learning tool for kids without the normal division of east, west, north or south. it’s a way to see the entirety of a nation not based on location, but rather it’s individual parts with the heart as a metaphor for completeness.
and yes…tshirts are being made.
Comment by beauchamping — August 1, 2009 @ 2:06 am
This Jake fellow sure is wise to the ways of the world!
Comment by andy — August 2, 2009 @ 2:50 am
Jake, I think you underestimate the importance of establish an alternative to Russian controlled pipelines. It may be less of an issue now than it was ten years ago, but I think keeping those options open is important in U.S. and more so in European foreign policy, especially given Russia’s tendency to use the pipelines to Europe as a political lever. Also, the U.S. military has a lot of planes that they are very fond of using that cannot be based off a carrier. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would have been very different if they were limited to carrier based aircraft. Troop transport, stealth capacity, large scale bombing, even anti-tank aircraft need land bases. This has certainly affected the U.S. relationship with the “stans”.
Comment by Gus Snarp — August 3, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
Jake – What the hell does your diatribe/thesis have to do with this map?
Comment by Art — August 3, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
[...] Strange Maps. Leave a [...]
Pingback by States United by Gregory Beauchamp « Visualingual — August 4, 2009 @ 11:40 am
I know Michelle Shocked sang “you know you’re in the largest state in the Union when you’re anchored down in Anchorage” – but I didn’t realise it was quite THAT big.
Well done on identifying all the states – I don’t suppose Europeans could do the same with all the countries in Europe… (can Beauchamping do a tshirt of that next? Or are we too wiggly in outline?)
Comment by Andrea Flowers — August 7, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
I love the location of Michigan, America’s Hi-Five!!
Comment by David — August 13, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
flyover country is not really that landlocked.indeed what made the U.S.was water access west,east north&south.
Comment by gavin — August 19, 2009 @ 2:01 am
What’s with the chunk missing from Southern New York? Did Dutchess County secede????
Comment by George — August 19, 2009 @ 5:25 pm
Fenerbahce Taraftar Site
Comment by TrakyaFB — August 21, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
[...] “Homeland is where the Heartland is.” is particularly pertinent with the fuss in the British press a few weeks back: much ado about food shortages. DEFRA declared, “farmers must grow more food with less;” The Independent in it’s analysis concludes, “it is also a geopolitical imperative. Britain has plenty of food. But complacency is no longer an option.” Fear mongering? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Check out this bit from the post: [...]
Pingback by 5 Websites That Make Us Green-Geek-Out - blog.green.tv — September 14, 2009 @ 7:06 am
Michigan and the other Great Lakes states are not represented correctly.
This is Michigan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SimpleMichigan.svg
Comment by Phizzy — September 17, 2009 @ 6:36 pm
See, I kew Alaska was that much bigger than everything else!
Anyway, very inventive map. I love it.
Comment by Pumpkin — September 18, 2009 @ 1:51 pm
[...] really like this design. I seriously considered getting the original poster of this design when I first heard about it but I was slow off the mark–they were part of a limited edition print (though he’s [...]
Pingback by adrian is rad » heart USA — September 20, 2009 @ 4:00 pm
[...] What a contrast, this scary composite picture of Europe, to the heart-shaped image of the United States puzzled together in a similar way in #402. [...]
Pingback by 416 – Iceland Crushed by Europe « Strange Maps — October 13, 2009 @ 3:47 pm
@14: The notch in NY seems to be Dutchess County, but that still doesn’t explain why it’s missing…
Comment by tirerim — October 15, 2009 @ 5:21 pm
clearly this map designer was distracted by all the apple pie baking, and neglected to finish drawing Dutchess County.
Comment by instantzen — October 28, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
The Europena version of this map:
http://eumanismo.blogspot.com/2009/11/mapa-union-europea-corazon.html
Comment by José — November 3, 2009 @ 10:45 pm
I’m not sure, but I think Alaska is even larger (relative to the other states) than it appears here.
Comment by John — November 11, 2009 @ 4:12 am