Both maps below show Heard Island and McDonald Islands highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Heard Island and McDonald Islands about 2.8× at 53°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 412 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 2.8× inflation is why Heard Island and McDonald Islands dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Heard Island and McDonald Islands on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | 412 km² | 1,142 km² | 2.8× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Heard Island and McDonald Islands at about 1,142 km². The truth is 412 km², a difference of 177% that school atlases carried for centuries.