Is Colorado a Square State?

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So what you're saying is that I can no longer bake a sheet cake and correctly say it's the shape of Colorado? Maybe I should take little bites out of the edges, to more accurately represent the topographical lines? I could get on board with this!

Thanks for that great suggestion! In many cases the line extends well into New Mexico for long stretches. The end of one of those stretches can be seen in the map at the top of this post. So the best option is to make a bigger cake. Everyone wins!

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Great info Craig!! I remember hearing something so I looked at Google maps really really close up and noticed a bit of zigging and zagging! I had no idea why or how it happened though. Thanks!

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Thanks for your comment Jeff! I think it's safe to say that most people will always consider Colorado a square state -- at least regarding its borders.

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On some map projections Colorado is a rectangle. On others it resembles a trapezoid with its shorter northern and longer southern state lines having a slight curve. On a globe, and in reality, all of Colorado's borders are curved. It's far from square ☺

Right, and thanks for the comment! Map projections can make any area look different. The word 'square' here comes from the popularly used term for the shape of the state -- and definitely not from a more pure geometrical perspective. Most likely the term originated from a time when the Mercator projection was still used on many school maps. That projection was great at its original purpose of ship navigation in the early modern era, but more than a little misleading when people started applying it to educational wall maps.

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Did you know something? Although Colorado has only a few parts that do not go straight,the state has 697 sides.In fact,it is said that it's north was always going to be shorter than it's south.And it is indeed true.Actually,it's north is 21 miles shorter than it's south,making it a slight trapezoid.Wyoming is a perfect square,however.And one last thing:I actually live in the Dominican Republic.I hope you like it!

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