Saturday, September 5, 2026 - The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution encouraging the use of world maps that more accurately represent the relative size of Africa and other continents.
The “Correct the Map” resolution, sponsored by Togo and
backed by members of the African Union, was supported by 164 countries,
including France and the United Kingdom. The United States was the only country
to vote against the resolution, while Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova,
Serbia and Ukraine abstained.
Although the resolution is non-binding, it encourages
governments, schools, international institutions and technology companies to
move away from map projections that significantly distort the relative size of
countries and continents. The campaign has focused particularly on the Mercator
projection, which has been widely used since the 16th century.
Designed in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator
to assist navigation, the projection preserves angles and directions but
significantly enlarges land masses closer to the poles while making areas
around the equator appear relatively smaller.
As a result, Greenland can appear similar in size to Africa
on a Mercator map, despite Africa covering roughly 14 times more land.
Supporters of the resolution argue that such distortions have influenced
perceptions of Africa’s geographical importance, population, resources and
economic potential.
In 2018, cartographers developed the Equal Earth projection,
an equal-area map designed to represent the relative sizes of continents and
countries more accurately. The African Union’s 54 member states adopted the
projection in February, saying it “more accurately represents the sizes of all
continents, particularly Africa.”
Campaign group #CorrectTheMap has highlighted the
continent’s scale, saying: “You could fit the United States, China, India,
Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare.”
Ahead of Friday’s General Assembly vote, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert
Dussey said the campaign was about correcting long-standing perceptions created
by distorted maps. “A fair world begins with a fair map,” Dussey told Reuters.
Speaking earlier at a UN briefing, he said: “A map is never
neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and
continents in the world is understood.” Dussey also said a more accurate map
“does not change the world’s geography, it changes how we see the world.”
The resolution describes correcting cartographic distortions
as an act of “cognitive justice and memorial reparation” and specifically
refers to Equal Earth as an example of a projection that more accurately
preserves relative land area. It does not ban the Mercator projection but
encourages the use of Equal Earth and other equal-area projections while
promoting education about the limitations involved in representing a spherical
planet on a flat surface
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot backed the initiative and said
his ministry planned to stop using the Mercator projection for its world maps.
“Changing the map obviously doesn’t change the world. But correcting a
representation that distorts it is already an act of truth,” Barrot said.
The United States opposed the resolution, arguing that the General
Assembly should focus on more pressing international issues. US representative
Yaryna Ferencevych said the measure “mocked the work and purpose” of the
General Assembly. “Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international
peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from
the 16th Century, and their role in promoting reparations and ‘cognitive
justice’,” she said. Washington also criticised what it described as the
broader ideological framing of the proposal, particularly its references to
reparations and cognitive justice.
Ukraine, while expressing support for addressing historical cartographic
distortions affecting Africa and other parts of the Global South, raised
concerns about how some Equal Earth maps depict Ukrainian territories occupied
by Russia. Supporters of the campaign, however, argue that the issue extends
beyond cartography.
“Africa’s misrepresentation on world maps is not just a cartographic
error, it’s a narrative issue,” Lerato Mogoatlhe of Africa No Filter, one of
the groups involved in the campaign, told the BBC. She said correcting the
representation formed part of efforts to challenge what she described as the
“world’s longest misinformation and disinformation” about Africa.
Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo similarly argued that distorted maps can
influence wider perceptions of the continent. “Maps are more than just guides
for travellers, they shape how regions are perceived politically and
economically,” he told the BBC.
Supporters of the resolution say greater use of equal-area projections
would provide a more accurate visual representation of Africa and other regions
near the equator while helping people understand that every two-dimensional
world map involves some form of compromise or distortion.
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