I have the same problem and I realized that this problem is caused by the ie8 emulator. Therefore, if you use the native ie8 (ie8 from windows xp), it will work without problems. In code with large maps, there is a method for creating css properties, and on this, highcharts create a property for each browser. if ie -ms-transform, if mozilla moz-transform, if web set ...
But for a browser earlier than ie9, css3 rotate is not supported, so the matrix rotates, and this guy (progid: DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Matrix) does not work on the ie8 emulator.
Try running your code on winxp native ie8 and it will work. ; D
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