Both maps below show Kazakhstan highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Kazakhstan about 2.3× at 48°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 2,724,910 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 2.3× inflation is why Kazakhstan dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Kazakhstan on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Kazakhstan: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Kazakhstan | 2,724,910 km² | 6,172,466 km² | 2.3× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Kazakhstan at about 6,172,466 km². The truth is 2,724,910 km², a difference of 127% that school atlases carried for centuries.