The UN General Assembly has voted to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects the true relative sizes of nations. This vote took place on Friday following calls from African nations to rectify a centuries-old disparity. The proposal, titled “Correct the Map,” was introduced by the Bahamas alongside member states of the African Union and garnered overwhelming support. A total of 164 UN member states voted in favor of the proposal, while six countries abstained. The United States was the only nation to vote against it. CNN reported this development online.
The proposal aims to present a “fairer” depiction of the world’s regions, particularly regarding Africa. It argues that the distorted representation found in conventional world maps has caused Africa to appear “symbolically diminished” in the collective global imagination. Currently, many world maps are based on the Mercator projection, introduced by European cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It is widely used by navigators because it maintains true directional lines (north-south) relative to the equator. However, the Mercator projection is less effective as a map of the entire globe because it distorts the sizes of various countries; the further a country is from the equator, the larger it appears on the map.
Conversely, countries near the equator appear relatively small. For instance, on a Mercator map, Greenland appears larger than the continent of South America and comparable in size to Africa. In reality, Greenland is roughly the same size as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while Africa is approximately 14 times larger than Greenland. Some critics of the Mercator projection believe it remains widely used because it depicts Western regions—such as Europe and North America—as disproportionately large and central to the map. They argue that this perpetuates the notion of European superiority. The UN resolution notes with concern that this distortion diminishes public perception regarding the actual size of Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, thereby perpetuating an unbalanced view of the world. The resolution further states that this distortion can make the socio-economic realities, infrastructural needs, development potential, and levels of prosperity of countries and regions in the Global South appear comparatively insignificant. Simultaneously, it can fuel various preconceptions regarding the environment, geopolitics, and security. The UN resolution advocates for the use of the “Equal Earth projection” instead of the Mercator projection, framing this as a step towards epistemic justice and historical redress. The Equal Earth projection more accurately represents the true relative sizes of the world’s various regions.
The Equal Earth map was introduced at the 2018 conference of the North American Cartographic Information Society. In this map, Europe appears relatively smaller and Brazil larger, while the depicted size of Greenland shrinks dramatically; conversely, Africa appears significantly larger. On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that the country would “abandon the Mercator projection” in favor of maps that more accurately reflect the true sizes of nations. Barrot remarked that the United States, Russia, and China are visually accorded disproportionate prominence on maps compared to Africa, Latin America, or Southeast Asia. He noted that these distortions gradually become ingrained in public perception, and the time has come to rectify them.
Momentum for this initiative at the UN grew after the African Union adopted the Equal Earth map in March. In April, Togo, representing the African Union, called upon UN member states to take similar action. Subsequently, a draft resolution was prepared, and the UN General Assembly held informal discussions on the matter in July.
