Both maps below show Slovakia highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Slovakia about 2.3× at 49°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 49,035 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 2.3× inflation is why Slovakia dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Slovakia on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Slovakia: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Slovakia | 49,035 km² | 112,619 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 Slovakia at about 112,619 km². The truth is 49,035 km², a difference of 130% that school atlases carried for centuries.