Both maps below show Greece highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Greece about 1.7× at 39°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 131,957 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.7× inflation is why Greece dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Greece on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Greece: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Greece | 131,957 km² | 218,785 km² | 1.7× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Greece at about 218,785 km². The truth is 131,957 km², a difference of 66% that school atlases carried for centuries.