Both maps below show United Arab Emirates highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates United Arab Emirates about 1.2× at 24°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 83,600 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.2× inflation is why United Arab Emirates dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover United Arab Emirates on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
United Arab Emirates: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 83,600 km² | 100,027 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 United Arab Emirates at about 100,027 km². The truth is 83,600 km², a difference of 20% that school atlases carried for centuries.