UN General Assembly adopts resolution urging use of Equal Earth map to better represent Africa's size
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The UN General Assembly voted to endorse the Equal Earth projection, encouraging its adoption over the traditional Mercator map to more accurately depict Africa and other continents.
The United Nations General Assembly voted Friday to endorse a new world map projection that more accurately reflects Africa’s true size. The resolution, sponsored by Togo and supported by the African Union, was approved by 164 of the 193 member states, with the United States voting against and six countries abstaining.
The measure calls on governments, educational institutions and other organizations to replace the widely used Mercator projection with the Equal Earth projection, which shows continents in proportion to their actual land area. Under the Mercator map, Greenland appears comparable in size to Africa, whereas the Equal Earth projection reveals Africa to be about 14 times larger than Greenland.
The resolution does not prohibit the Mercator map but merely encourages the transition to the Equal Earth format. "Maps shape our understanding of the world," Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey said before the vote, emphasizing their influence on education and perception.
Advocacy group Africa No Filter, a leading proponent of the change, said the goal is to see accurate maps used in schools, textbooks, newsrooms and digital platforms. French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot added that correcting a distorted representation is an act of truth.
The Mercator projection, created in the 16th century for navigation, enlarges regions near the poles and reduces the size of areas such as Africa and South America. Geographers note that, aside from navigation, the Mercator map offers little practical value. "Outside of that very narrow navigation application, there is no point in using it," said Syracuse University geography professor Mark Monmonier.