Both maps below show Bangladesh highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Bangladesh about 1.2× at 24°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 148,460 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.2× inflation is why Bangladesh dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Bangladesh on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Bangladesh: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Bangladesh | 148,460 km² | 177,514 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 Bangladesh at about 177,514 km². The truth is 148,460 km², a difference of 20% that school atlases carried for centuries.