Both maps below show Jordan highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Jordan about 1.4× at 31°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 89,318 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.4× inflation is why Jordan dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Jordan on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Jordan: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Jordan | 89,318 km² | 122,178 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 Jordan at about 122,178 km². The truth is 89,318 km², a difference of 37% that school atlases carried for centuries.