Both maps below show Western Sahara highlighted. The old Mercator map (1569) inflates Western Sahara about 1.2× at 24°, and the new Equal Earth map shows it at its true 266,000 km². Pan or zoom either map and the other follows, so the difference is visible at every scale.
That 1.2× inflation is why Western Sahara dominated old schoolbook maps and maps of the world's great powers. Hover Western Sahara on either map to highlight it on both at once, then compare it with Greenland.
Western Sahara: key figures
| True area | On the old Mercator map | Distortion vs truth |
|---|
| Western Sahara | 266,000 km² | 319,785 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 Western Sahara at about 319,785 km². The truth is 266,000 km², a difference of 20% that school atlases carried for centuries.