The United Nations General Assembly has backed a resolution calling for more accurate world maps that better reflect the actual size of Africa and other regions, in a move supporters say could change how the world views the continent.
The resolution, known as “Correct the Map,” was introduced by Togo on behalf of the African Group at the United Nations and supported by the African Union.
It was adopted by 164 votes to one, with six countries abstaining. The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution.
The vote gives fresh international backing to efforts to move away from the long-used Mercator projection towards maps that more accurately represent the relative size of the world’s continents, particularly Africa.
Togo: Maps Shape How the World Sees Africa
Speaking before the vote, Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, said maps influence how people understand the world and should therefore present a more balanced picture of its geography.
“Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions,” Dussey said.
Ahead of the vote, Dussey also told Reuters, “A fair world begins with a fair map.” He said the initiative was part of a broader effort to challenge the way Africa has been represented for generations.
He added that African countries also have a responsibility to push for changes that can correct long-standing misconceptions about the continent.
“It’s time for us in Africa to take responsibility to change what we can change ourselves,” he said.
In another briefing, Dussey argued that maps are not neutral because they influence how people understand the place of different countries and continents in the world.
The resolution is not legally binding and does not require countries, schools or institutions to stop using the widely known Mercator projection.
Instead, it encourages the wider use of equal-area map projections, including the Equal Earth projection, which gives a more proportionate representation of the size of countries and continents. The resolution also does not affect the use of Mercator for maritime and aerial navigation, where the projection remains useful.
Why the Mercator Map Has Been Criticised
The Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, was designed mainly for navigation.
While it preserves the shape of land masses and makes it easier to plot navigation routes, it significantly distorts the size of areas as they move farther from the equator.
This means regions in the northern and southern extremes can appear much larger than they actually are, while Africa and other areas around the equator appear smaller.
The distortion is partly a result of the difficulty of representing the surface of a spherical Earth on a flat map. Any two-dimensional world map has to make compromises between shape, distance, direction and area.
Africa, for instance, is often compared visually with Greenland on Mercator maps, even though Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland.
Supporters of the Correct the Map campaign argue that repeated exposure to such maps can contribute to a distorted understanding of Africa’s geographical size and global significance.
The Correct the Map campaign says Africa has a land area of more than 30 million square kilometres, making it more than 14 times the size of Greenland.
The campaign has also used the comparison that “you could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare.”
Tom Patterson, one of the cartographers behind the Equal Earth projection, previously warned that using Mercator as a general-purpose world map could give students a misleading impression of the relative size of countries.
“If you’re using the Mercator map as a world map, say, in the classroom, students would just have a completely warped view of the size of countries in the world,” Patterson said.
Equal Earth Projection Gains Support
The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018 by Patterson, Bernhard Jenny and Bojan Šavrič, was created to show the relative size of the world’s land masses more accurately.
The projection does not preserve the exact shape of countries in the way Mercator does, but it provides a more proportionate representation of their actual area.
The African Union has also moved to promote the use of the Equal Earth projection. The AU Assembly adopted a decision calling for African countries to use the projection in maps, with the move aimed at providing a fairer representation of Africa’s geographical size and significance.
Members of the Correct the Map campaign are now encouraging governments, international organisations and educational institutions to consider using equal-area projections such as Equal Earth in classrooms, media and other public communication.
The campaign, backed by groups including Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, has argued that the issue goes beyond cartography and touches on how Africa is perceived globally.
African Union Welcomes UN Vote
The African Union welcomed the General Assembly’s decision, describing it as an important step towards correcting how Africa is represented on maps.
In a statement on X, the African Union said the resolution would promote equal-area maps across classrooms, media and international institutions, adding that the world map should reflect Africa’s “true scale, weight, and place in the world.”
The vote was also welcomed by Patterson, who expressed surprise at how far the Equal Earth projection had come since its creation.
“When we created the Equal Earth projection in 2018, we never imagined this,” he said in a social media post.
Carlos Lopes, a professor at the University of Cape Town and a prominent supporter of the campaign, also celebrated the outcome.
“164 votes in favour! This is an emotional day for me,” Lopes wrote after the vote.
The move has also received support from France. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has argued that changing a map does not change the world itself, but correcting a representation that distorts it can help present a more accurate picture.
France has now moved away from the Mercator projection in its official world mapping, adopting the Eckert IV projection, which provides a more proportionate representation of equatorial regions including Africa.
US Opposes the Resolution
The United States, however, opposed the resolution, raising concerns about what it described as an ideological agenda within the United Nations.
In a statement following the vote, Yaryna Ferencevych, deputy U.S. representative to the UN Economic and Social Council, said the resolution distracted from more pressing issues facing the organisation.
“Resolutions like this and the ideological agenda they promote, are barnacles on our work here, and the reason this institution is losing its credibility,” the statement said.
Ferencevych also criticised the debate over maps as a distraction from what she described as more important issues of international peace, prosperity and relations.
Despite the opposition, the overwhelming vote in favour means the Correct the Map campaign has secured significant international backing for wider adoption of maps that present Africa and other regions according to their actual land area.
For supporters, the issue goes beyond cartography. They argue that how Africa is drawn and taught can influence how its size, importance and place in the world are understood by generations of people.
A Question of Perception
The debate has also attracted voices from African media and geography experts who say the way Africa is represented visually can influence perceptions of its political and economic importance.
Africa No Filter has described the continued use of distorted maps as part of a broader narrative problem surrounding the continent, arguing that inaccurate representations can reinforce misconceptions about Africa.
Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo has similarly argued that the Mercator projection can contribute to the continent being viewed as smaller than it actually is, potentially downplaying its vast resources, population and investment opportunities.
“Maps are more than just guides for travellers – they shape how regions are perceived politically and economically,” Muendo said.
For advocates of the campaign, correcting the map is therefore not simply about producing a different image of the world. It is about ensuring that Africa is represented according to its actual geographical size and that future generations have a more accurate picture of the continent and its place in the world.
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