Both maps below show Tajikistan highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Tajikistan about 1.6× at 39°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 144,100 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.6× inflation is why Tajikistan dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Tajikistan on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Tajikistan: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Tajikistan | 144,100 km² | 235,517 km² | 1.6× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Tajikistan at about 235,517 km². The truth is 144,100 km², a difference of 63% that school atlases carried for centuries.