Both maps below show Isle of Man highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Isle of Man about 2.9× at 54°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 572 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 2.9× inflation is why Isle of Man dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Isle of Man on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Isle of Man: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Isle of Man | 572 km² | 1,674 km² | 2.9× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Isle of Man at about 1,674 km². The truth is 572 km², a difference of 193% that school atlases carried for centuries.