Both maps below show New Zealand highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates New Zealand about 1.8× at 42°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 268,838 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.8× inflation is why New Zealand dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover New Zealand on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
New Zealand: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| New Zealand | 268,838 km² | 482,268 km² | 1.8× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew New Zealand at about 482,268 km². The truth is 268,838 km², a difference of 79% that school atlases carried for centuries.