Both maps below show Turkmenistan highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Turkmenistan about 1.7× at 39°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 488,100 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.7× inflation is why Turkmenistan dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Turkmenistan on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Turkmenistan: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Turkmenistan | 488,100 km² | 811,027 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 Turkmenistan at about 811,027 km². The truth is 488,100 km², a difference of 66% that school atlases carried for centuries.