How the crowd draws
3,143 drawings of its land border and 3,229 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s US map, 24 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.
In numbers
| The real one | The crowd’s | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 146,000 km²56,000 sq mi | 146,000 km²56,000 sq mi↓0.1% smaller |
| Outline | 1,958 km1,216 mi | 1,839 km1,143 mi↓6.1% shorter |
| Centre | 89.20° W, 40.04° N89.2° W, 40.0° N | 89.15° W, 40.02° N89.2° W, 40.0° N↘4 km south-east3 mi south-east |
| Westernmost | 91.51° W, 40.18° N91.5° W, 40.2° N | 91.45° W, 40.18° N91.5° W, 40.2° N→5 km short3 mi short |
| Easternmost | 87.50° W, 38.75° N87.5° W, 38.7° N | 87.38° W, 40.47° N87.4° W, 40.5° N→10 km beyond6 mi beyond |
| Southernmost | 89.16° W, 36.97° N89.2° W, 37.0° N | 89.18° W, 37.04° N89.2° W, 37.0° N↑7 km short5 mi short |
| Northernmost | 90.61° W, 42.51° N90.6° W, 42.5° N | 87.80° W, 42.48° N87.8° W, 42.5° N↓3 km short2 mi short |
Near the land border, 49% of the crowd’s lines run inside Illinois. Near the coast, 52% run inland.
Borders and coast
| Border with | In the game | The crowd’s |
|---|---|---|
| Missouri | 576 km in the game | 519 km the crowd’s↓9.9% shorter |
| Indiana | 519 km in the game | 514 km the crowd’s↓1.0% shorter |
| Iowa | 344 km in the game | 317 km the crowd’s↓7.8% shorter |
| Wisconsin | 233 km in the game | 228 km the crowd’s↓2.1% shorter |
| Kentucky | 210 km in the game | 175 km the crowd’s↓16.7% shorter |
| The coast | 94 km in the game | 92 km the crowd’s↓2.1% shorter |
How it is measured
The crowd’s Illinois: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Illinois or outside it; the median over a short stretch is where the crowd puts the line there, and the real outline moved by it is the crowd’s. Where the move folds a narrow inlet over itself, the loop is cut.
The 6,372 drawings that scored 10 or more on Borderline’s US map, scribbles left out, the real line the game’s own. Area true to scale; the outline copies the real line’s detail, so its length changes only where the shape moves or a loop is cut. The map lays the 1,000 most recent; the heat map, the crowd’s shape and every figure use all 6,372.
Draw Illinois yourself and add your line to the next update.