Both maps below show Bahamas highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Bahamas about 1.2× at 24°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 13,880 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.2× inflation is why Bahamas dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Bahamas on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Bahamas: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Bahamas | 13,880 km² | 16,705 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 Bahamas at about 16,705 km². The truth is 13,880 km², a difference of 20% that school atlases carried for centuries.