By Argus Staff
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution encouraging the use of world maps that portray continents in more accurate proportion, placing renewed attention on the long-standing visual reduction of Africa under the familiar Mercator projection.
The measure, titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable Representation of the World’s Regions, Particularly Africa,” passed September 4 by a vote of 164 in favor, one against and six abstentions, according to the official U.N. meeting transcript. The United States cast the lone dissenting vote.
Introduced by Togo on behalf of the African Group, the resolution promotes greater use of projections that preserve the relative surface areas of continents, including the Equal Earth projection. Supporters argue that maps influence education, public understanding and perceptions of nations’ importance. Because no flat map can reproduce a spherical planet without distortion, every projection involves tradeoffs involving area, shape, distance or direction.
The Mercator projection, created by Gerardus Mercator in 1569, was designed to support navigation by preserving local angles and compass directions. However, it greatly enlarges places closer to the poles when used as a general world map. The result makes Greenland appear comparable in size to Africa, although Africa is approximately 14 times larger. Equal Earth, an equal-area projection introduced in 2018, preserves the proportional sizes of land areas while maintaining a visually familiar world outline.
Togo’s foreign minister told the General Assembly that the resolution does not condemn Mercator, impose one projection for every purpose or alter borders. He described its aim as scientific and educational, noting that Mercator remains useful for navigation. The text is nonbinding and creates no new financial obligations. Instead, it encourages governments, educators, international organizations, researchers and technology companies to improve cartographic literacy and consider more accurate area-based representations.
Explaining Washington’s opposition before the vote, the U.S. representative said the initiative belonged to a broader ideological project and diverted attention from international peace, prosperity and good relations. Other delegations supported the resolution while formally emphasizing that it does not affect sovereignty, disputed territories or internationally recognized borders.
The vote does not instantly replace maps in classrooms, newsrooms or online platforms. Its practical influence will depend on decisions by governments, publishers, schools and technology providers. Still, the resolution gives international recognition to an argument African advocates have made for years: geographic distortion can shape cultural assumptions.
Africa’s landmass has not changed. What may change is how students and the wider public see its scale. By encouraging maps that represent relative area more faithfully, the General Assembly has opened a global conversation about accuracy, inherited conventions and the quiet power of images to influence understanding far beyond the walls of the United Nations itself.
Primary references
United Nations General Assembly meeting transcript | Equal Earth projection
