According to Claude AI…
…this is how the US should be divided into states.
On the other hand, this is a map (not AI generated) of what the country would look like if all the various proposals to split/combine/gain states actually came to fruition over the course of our history:
This Map Still Fascinates Me After All These Years
This map of the Atlantic Ocean floor, created in 1968, is based on depth surveys conducted by Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp. Heinrich Berann painted the map for National Geographic magazine. — in New York, NY.
A New Way Of Seeing The World
Who decided that north was up, anyway?