Both maps below show France highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates France about 1.9× at 43°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 643,801 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.9× inflation is why France dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover France on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
France: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| France | 643,801 km² | 1,201,848 km² | 1.9× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew France at about 1,201,848 km². The truth is 643,801 km², a difference of 87% that school atlases carried for centuries.