Both maps below show Turks and Caicos Islands highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Turks and Caicos Islands about 1.2× at 22°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 948 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.2× inflation is why Turks and Caicos Islands dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Turks and Caicos Islands on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Turks and Caicos Islands: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 948 km² | 1,100 km² | 1.2× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Turks and Caicos Islands at about 1,100 km². The truth is 948 km², a difference of 16% that school atlases carried for centuries.