Gerhard Mercator and Abraham Ortelius were the leading cartographers of their time. They were life-long friends, and there was probably some co-operation between them. Therefore it is not surprising that in the first edition (1570) of Abraham Ortelius' atlas, Theatrum orbis terrarum, we find a copy of a part of Mercator's world map which was published a year earlier. The map shows the Northern countries. Iceland (Islant, Thule) on the map is basically unchanged from Mercator's map of Europe from 1554. The shape of the country originates from the Zeno map but Mercator doesn't let all its falsifications fool him. Greenland is separated from Europe by a wide sea and the seven islands off the east coast are gone.