Both maps below show Uruguay highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Uruguay about 1.4× at 33°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 176,215 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.4× inflation is why Uruguay dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Uruguay on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Uruguay: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Uruguay | 176,215 km² | 249,344 km² | 1.4× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Uruguay at about 249,344 km². The truth is 176,215 km², a difference of 42% that school atlases carried for centuries.