UN General Assembly Takes Stand Against Colonial Cartography, Champions Equal Earth Map to Restore Africa's True Size
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In a decisive move to dismantle Eurocentric distortions, the UN General Assembly endorsed the Equal Earth projection, urging its adoption over the colonial-era Mercator map to finally represent Africa and the Global South with accuracy.
On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly took a significant step toward decolonizing global perspectives by voting to endorse a new world map projection that finally acknowledges Africa’s true size. The resolution, a bold initiative spearheaded by Togo and backed by the African Union, passed with overwhelming support—164 out of 193 member states in favor—despite resistance from the United States and abstentions from six other countries, highlighting ongoing Western reluctance to relinquish outdated narratives.
The measure calls for governments, educational institutions, and organizations to abandon the Eurocentric Mercator projection in favor of the Equal Earth projection, which restores continents to their rightful proportions. The Mercator map, a relic of colonial navigation, has long minimized Africa and the Global South, inflating Europe and Greenland to reinforce a false hierarchy. In reality, Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland—a fact the Equal Earth projection makes clear.
While the resolution stops short of banning the Mercator map, it strongly encourages a transition to the Equal Earth format, recognizing the profound impact maps have on shaping worldviews. Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey underscored this before the vote, emphasizing how maps have been used to perpetuate colonial mindsets in education and media.
Africa No Filter, a leading advocacy group for the change, celebrated the decision, stressing the importance of accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, and digital platforms. French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the correction of these distortions an overdue act of truth and justice.
The Mercator projection, devised in the 16th century to serve colonial navigators, grossly enlarges regions near the poles while diminishing the size of Africa and South America. Geographers and justice advocates alike point out that, aside from its narrow use in navigation, the Mercator map perpetuates harmful misrepresentations. As Syracuse University geography professor Mark Monmonier put it, 'Outside of that very narrow navigation application, there is no point in using it.'