Both maps below show North Macedonia highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates North Macedonia about 1.8× at 42°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 25,713 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.8× inflation is why North Macedonia dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover North Macedonia on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
North Macedonia: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| North Macedonia | 25,713 km² | 45,975 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 North Macedonia at about 45,975 km². The truth is 25,713 km², a difference of 79% that school atlases carried for centuries.