The Fragmented States of North America
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
What would the North American economy look like if every single state and province in the US, Canada and Mexico suddenly declared independence and turned into its own country? Most know that California would become the largest economic powerhouse in the region, but besides that it's not always obvious which state or province would stack up with another. To give some idea of how it would look I've put them all in a single chart below. The map on the right is also lacking colours and has been turned around in order to make the national borders we are otherwise used to as invisible as possible.
The list includes parts of the three countries that aren't officially provinces or states, since 1) if every province and state became independent they would have to govern themselves too, and 2) the largest part of Mexico (by GDP) is the Federal District, which is technically not a state either.
"Equivalent country" on the right is measured by GDP, and is very rough, obtained simply by selecting the nearest country below the state's GDP on this list, or the nearest country just above if they happen to be extremely close.
The list includes parts of the three countries that aren't officially provinces or states, since 1) if every province and state became independent they would have to govern themselves too, and 2) the largest part of Mexico (by GDP) is the Federal District, which is technically not a state either.
"Equivalent country" on the right is measured by GDP, and is very rough, obtained simply by selecting the nearest country below the state's GDP on this list, or the nearest country just above if they happen to be extremely close.
Rank | "Country" name | GDP ($million) | Population | Equivalent country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 1,891,363 | 37,253,956 | Canada |
2 | Texas | 1,144,695 | 25,145,561 | Mexico |
3 | New York | 1,093,219 | 19,378,102 | " |
4 | Florida | 737,038 | 18,801,310 | Turkey |
5 | Illinois | 630,398 | 12,910,409 | Switzerland |
6 | Pennsylvania | 554,774 | 12,604,767 | " |
7 | Ontario | 513,052 | 13,210,667 | Belgium |
8 | New Jersey | 482,967 | 8,707,739 | " |
9 | Ohio | 471,264 | 11,536,504 | " |
10 | Virginia | 408,443 | 8,001,024 | Austria |
11 | North Carolina | 398,042 | 9,535,483 | " |
12 | Georgia | 395,194 | 9,687,653 | " |
13 | Michigan | 368,401 | 9,883,640 | " |
14 | Massachusetts | 365,182 | 6,547,629 | South Africa |
15 | Washington | 338,334 | 6,724,540 | Iran |
16 | Maryland | 286,797 | 5,773,552 | Venezuela |
17 | Indiana | 262,647 | 6,483,802 | United Arab Emirates |
18 | Minnesota | 260,692 | 5,303,925 | " |
19 | Quebec | 259,958 | 7,886,108 | " |
20 | Arizona | 256,364 | 6,392,017 | " |
21 | Colorado | 252,657 | 5,029,196 | " |
22 | Tennessee | 244,508 | 6,214,888 | " |
23 | Wisconsin | 244,370 | 5,686,986 | " |
24 | Missouri | 239,752 | 5,988,927 | " |
25 | Connecticut | 227,405 | 3,574,097 | Hong Kong |
26 | Louisiana | 208,377 | 4,533,372 | Nigeria |
27 | Federal District | 192,073 | 8,720,700 | Philippines |
28 | Alberta | 179,113 | 3,724,832 | Pakistan |
29 | Alabama | 169,856 | 4,779,736 | Algeria |
30 | Oregon | 165,648 | 3,831,074 | " |
31 | South Carolina | 159,647 | 4,625,364 | " |
32 | British Columbia | 158,616 | 4,383,800 | Romania |
33 | Kentucky | 156,553 | 4,339,367 | Peru |
34 | Oklahoma | 153,778 | 3,751,351 | " |
35 | Iowa | 142,282 | 3,046,355 | New Zealand |
36 | Nevada | 126,503 | 2,700,551 | Qatar |
37 | Kansas | 124,921 | 2,853,118 | Kuwait |
38 | Utah | 112,941 | 2,763,885 | Bangladesh |
39 | Arkansas | 101,818 | 2,915,918 | Vietnam |
40 | District of Columbia | 99,129 | 601,723 | Morocco |
41 | Mississippi | 95,905 | 2,967,297 | " |
42 | Mexico State | 86,656 | 14,349,700 | Slovakia |
43 | Nebraska | 86,439 | 1,826,341 | " |
44 | New Mexico | 74,801 | 2,059,179 | Sudan |
45 | Nuevo León | 67,002 | 4,041,300 | " |
46 | Hawaii | 66,431 | 1,360,301 | " |
47 | Jalisco | 66,260 | 6,540,700 | " |
48 | West Virginia | 63,344 | 1,852,994 | Ecuador |
49 | Delaware | 60,588 | 897,934 | Croatia |
50 | New Hampshire | 59,400 | 1,316,470 | Oman |
51 | Idaho | 54,005 | 1,567,582 | " |
52 | Maine | 51,293 | 1,328,361 | Dominican Republic |
53 | Rhode Island | 47,837 | 1,052,567 | Slovenia |
54 | Alaska | 45,709 | 710,231 | Bulgaria |
55 | Chihuahua | 41,095 | 3,274,700 | Guatemala |
56 | Manitoba | 40,892 | 1,232,654 | " |
57 | Saskatchewan | 40,080 | 1,049,701 | Lebanon |
58 | Veracruz | 38,415 | 6,980,900 | Uzbekistan |
59 | South Dakota | 38,308 | 814,180 | " |
60 | Wyoming | 37,544 | 563,626 | Lithuania |
61 | Montana | 35,954 | 989,415 | " |
62 | Puebla | 33,054 | 5,480,200 | Kenya |
63 | Baja California | 32,161 | 2,846,500 | Ethiopia |
64 | North Dakota | 31,872 | 672,591 | " |
65 | Guanajuato | 31,268 | 4,919,000 | " |
66 | Coahuila | 29,481 | 2,395,100 | Panama |
67 | Tamaulipas | 28,588 | 2,927,300 | " |
68 | Nova Scotia | 28,159 | 944,251 | " |
69 | Sonora | 25,908 | 2,262,700 | Latvia |
70 | Vermont | 25,438 | 625,741 | " |
71 | New Brunswick | 22,507 | 1098109 | Tanzania |
72 | Newfoundland | 19,226 | 1098109 | Estonia |
73 | Michoacán | 18,761 | 4,066,900 | Ghana |
74 | San Luis Potosí | 16,974 | 2,370,400 | Afghanistan |
75 | Sinaloa | 16,974 | 2,574,300 | " |
76 | Querétaro | 16,081 | 1,558,500 | Zambia |
77 | Chiapas | 14,294 | 4,329,700 | Jamaica |
78 | Guerrero | 14,294 | 3,196,100 | " |
79 | Quintana Roo | 14,294 | 1,023,500 | " |
80 | Oaxaca | 13,400 | 3,651,100 | Iceland |
81 | Yucatán | 12,507 | 1,714,100 | Botswana |
82 | Morelos | 11,614 | 1,637,400 | Albania |
83 | Durango | 11,614 | 1,449,100 | " |
84 | Hidalgo | 11,614 | 2,330,900 | " |
85 | Aguascalientes | 11,614 | 1,023,800 | " |
86 | Tabasco | 11,614 | 1,994,700 | " |
87 | Campeche | 10,720 | 720,900 | Mozambique |
88 | Zacatecas | 7,147 | 1,381,900 | Haiti |
89 | Baja California Sur | 5,360 | 477,200 | Moldova |
90 | Nayarit | 5,360 | 942,200 | " |
91 | Colima | 4,467 | 581,100 | Kyrgyzstan |
92 | Tlaxcala | 4,467 | 1,034,600 | " |
93 | Prince Edward Island | 3,996 | 1098109 | Barbados |
94 | Northwest Territories | 3,458 | 1098109 | Suriname |
95 | Yukon Territory | 1,445 | 1098109 | Maldives |
96 | Nunavut | 1,188 | 1098109 | Djibouti |