Both maps below show Lebanon highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Lebanon about 1.5× at 34°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 10,452 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.5× inflation is why Lebanon dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Lebanon on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Lebanon: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Lebanon | 10,452 km² | 15,179 km² | 1.5× |
| Greenland | 2,166,086 km² | 25,576,494 km² | 11.8× |
| Africa | 30,370,000 km² | n/a | n/a |
Old maps drew Lebanon at about 15,179 km². The truth is 10,452 km², a difference of 45% that school atlases carried for centuries.