According to Geography TikToker @uncovering_yt, it turns out that everything we thought we knew about basic geometry and U.S. Geography is incorrect. In one of his videos, he revealed that Colorado’s shape is not as simple as it appears on most maps. Instead of being a four-sided figure, Colorado is actually an intricate shape with a staggering 697 sides.
The reason for this unusual shape can be attributed to the Earth’s curvature. Land surveyors made a mistake by not accounting for the spherical nature of the Earth. This oversight resulted in Colorado’s appearance being more trapezoidal than rectangular.
The initial idea was for Colorado to be a perfect rectangle, but Congress overlooked the fact that while lines of latitude run parallel and never intersect, lines of longitude converge at the North and South Poles. This convergence of longitude lines causes distortions in the shape of the state when seen on a broader world map, leading to the slanted scope of Colorado’s outline.