Both maps below show Faroe Islands highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Faroe Islands about 4.6× at 62°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 1,393 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 4.6× inflation is why Faroe Islands dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Faroe Islands on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Faroe Islands: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Faroe Islands | 1,393 km² | 6,342 km² | 4.6× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Faroe Islands at about 6,342 km². The truth is 1,393 km², a difference of 355% that school atlases carried for centuries.