Qatar vs Bahrain

Why people mix them up

Both flags have a white band at the hoist joined to a dark field by a zigzag, serrated line, a design shared by no other countries in the world. Both are small, wealthy Gulf monarchies, both are Arabic-speaking, both sit on the western side of the Persian Gulf next to Saudi Arabia, and both are only a short flight apart. The historical connection is real: the two ruling families fought over the same territory in the 19th century, and the flags grew from the same red-and-white tradition.

How to tell them apart

• Qatar's flag is maroon with nine white points; Bahrain's is bright red with five points. Maroon and more teeth means Qatar.
• Qatar is a peninsula, a thumb of land sticking north into the Gulf from Saudi Arabia; Bahrain is an archipelago of islands to its west.
• Qatar is about 15 times bigger, roughly 11,600 km² against 780 km², with about 2.9 million people against 1.5 million.
• Bahrain is linked to Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd Causeway; Qatar shares a land border with Saudi Arabia.
• The capitals are Doha (Qatar) and Manama (Bahrain).
• Qatar uses the riyal; Bahrain uses the dinar.

Memory hook

Bigger country, more teeth: Qatar has nine points, Bahrain only five. Bahrain begins with "B" for "bridge", the causeway that ties the little island to Saudi Arabia.

On the map

For Qatar, find the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and tap the peninsula pointing straight up into the Persian Gulf, roughly halfway between Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. For Bahrain, look just west of that peninsula, in the bay between Qatar and the Saudi coast, and zoom in to tap the small island there. Qatar is attached to the mainland; Bahrain floats in the water beside it.