UN backs African-led push for world maps that show Africa’s size more accurately

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Friday to support an African-led effort to promote world maps that more accurately reflect the relative size of countries and continents. The resolution, approved by 164 votes to one, encourages the use of projections like the Equal Earth map, which better represents the area of continents compared to the commonly used Mercator projection.

The US was the only country to vote against the measure. The resolution, while not legally binding, aims to encourage governments, schools, international organizations, and tech companies to consider using more accurate map projections. Togo's Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, argues that fair maps can help shape perceptions of the importance and size of different regions.

Togo plans to introduce the Equal Earth projection in schools before the end of the year and to advocate for wider international adoption of the approach. The African Union has also backed the campaign, which seeks to use equal-area projections in education and public communications. Supporters of the Equal Earth projection argue that it can provide a more proportionate visual representation of Africa and other equatorial regions, countering the misleading distortions created by the Mercator projection.

However, critics note that the Mercator projection's distortions were not intended to misrepresent any region but were a feature of its original purpose for navigation. The UN resolution therefore seeks to promote greater use of proportional maps in areas such as education, media, and public information, without eliminating the Mercator projection from its original uses.