"The US is one of the world’s biggest countries, with one of the world’s most numerous populations [1]. The 23rd Census of the United States [2], now under way, will provide us with updated information on the current size of America’s population, but until then, let’s assume – as this map does – that the country is inhabited by about 300 million people. With a total area of 3,794,101 sqare miles, that gives the US a population density of approximately 79 Americans per square mile.... National population densities are of course averages. Excepting the consistently very crowded Macaus or the almost completely empty Greenlands of this world, each country or territory is divided into significantly more and less densely populated areas. It will surprise few that Alaska is the US’s least populated state (barely 1 Alaskan per square mile. Second least populated? Wyoming, with 5 inhabitants per square mile). At the top of the list is New Jersey (1,138 inh./mi2, followed by Rhode Island with 1,003 inh./mi2). . These are small states on the crowded East Coast, but even their average density is weighed down by relatively rural areas. For really high densities, take Brooklyn, the most populous of NYC’s five boroughs (2.56 million), with a surface of 71 square miles, which works out to a whopping 34,916 inhabitants per square mile. . Now, what if the whole population of the US would live in such a cheek-by-jowlish manner? How much space would they need? Texas? Nope. California? Think again. Pennsylvania? Nu-uh. Florida? Nice try. New Hampshire. That’s how much, or rather: how little space would be needed." - Shannon Jiménez