Both maps below show Bahrain highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Bahrain about 1.2× at 26°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 778 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.2× inflation is why Bahrain dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Bahrain on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Bahrain: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Bahrain | 778 km² | 964 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 Bahrain at about 964 km². The truth is 778 km², a difference of 24% that school atlases carried for centuries.