Both maps below show Northern Cyprus highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Northern Cyprus about 1.5× at 35°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 3,355 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.5× inflation is why Northern Cyprus dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Northern Cyprus on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Northern Cyprus: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Northern Cyprus | 3,355 km² | 5,033 km² | 1.5× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Northern Cyprus at about 5,033 km². The truth is 3,355 km², a difference of 50% that school atlases carried for centuries.