UN General Assembly adopts resolution to replace Mercator map with equal-area projection
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The UN General Assembly voted to endorse an equal-area world map that more accurately depicts Africa's size, with 164 countries supporting the resolution and the United States voting against it.
The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution to replace the widely used Mercator projection with an equal-area map that better reflects the true size of Africa. The proposal, sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union members, received votes from 164 nations, while the United States was the sole country to oppose it and six others abstained.
The Mercator map, created in 1569, distorts the relative size of continents, making Africa appear comparable to Greenland despite being about 14 times larger. Critics argue that such distortion can downplay the development needs and potential of equatorial regions.
In 2018, cartographers developed the "Equal Earth" projection, an equal-area representation that the African Union’s 54 member states adopted in February, stating it more accurately shows the sizes of all continents, especially Africa.
Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Reuters before the vote that "a fair world begins with a fair map," and earlier warned that "a map is never neutral; it shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood."
The resolution is non-binding but is expected to prompt institutions worldwide to adopt the new map format.