Both maps below show Palestine highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Palestine about 1.4× at 32°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 6,020 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.4× inflation is why Palestine dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Palestine on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Palestine: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Palestine | 6,020 km² | 8,355 km² | 1.4× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Palestine at about 8,355 km². The truth is 6,020 km², a difference of 39% that school atlases carried for centuries.