Both maps below show Turkey highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Turkey about 1.7× at 39°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 783,562 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.7× inflation is why Turkey dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Turkey on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Turkey: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Turkey | 783,562 km² | 1,302,437 km² | 1.7× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Turkey at about 1,302,437 km². The truth is 783,562 km², a difference of 66% that school atlases carried for centuries.