UN is set to vote on replacing the Mercator map, which makes Africa appear much smaller than its actual size
The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote on a draft resolution calling for the global use of equal-area world maps instead of the centuries-old Mercator projection (a flat cylindrical map of the world created by Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569), which critics say distorts the size of continents, particularly Africa.
The initiative has been led by Togo and backed by the 55-member African Union, reported the Guardian. The proposed resolution calls on international organisations, schools and technology companies to adopt map projections that show countries and continents in closer proportion to their actual size.
Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said the move was about correcting how Africa is represented on maps.
“We are asking the member states to move from the Mercator map to the Equal Earth map… Africa is not asking for a privilege. We are not asking for compassion. We just want to have the real size that we have in the world in terms of geography,” Dussey said in a briefing to the African Group at the UN this week.
Why the Mercator map is controversial
The Mercator projection was created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. It was designed mainly for navigation, as it allows sailors to plot routes using straight lines.
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However, the projection distorts the relative size of landmasses as they move away from the Equator. Areas closer to the poles appear much larger than they actually are, while regions around the Equator appear comparatively smaller.
One of the most prominent examples is Greenland. On a standard Mercator map, Greenland can appear close in size to Africa. In reality, Africa covers about 30.3 million square kilometres, while Greenland is around 2.16 million square kilometres. Africa is therefore roughly 14 times larger.
Africa’s size is also often underestimated when viewed on conventional world maps. The continent is large enough to contain the land areas of the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe combined.
The distortion has long drawn criticism from geographers and others who argue that the way the world is visually represented can influence perceptions of different regions. Some critics have described the continued dominance of the Mercator projection as a form of “cartographic colonialism”, arguing that it visually diminishes countries in the Global South.
Why Equal Earth?
The proposed shift is linked to the #CorrectTheMap campaign, which gained support from the African Union.
The resolution favours modern equal-area projections such as Equal Earth, developed in 2018 by a team of cartographers. Unlike the Mercator projection, equal-area maps aim to preserve the relative size of landmasses.
Equal Earth also seeks to avoid some of the visual problems associated with earlier alternatives such as the Gall-Peters projection, which was criticised for making continents appear unusually stretched.
The idea is not to produce a map that is completely free of distortion. Flattening the Earth’s three-dimensional surface onto a two-dimensional map inevitably involves some trade-offs. Instead, equal-area projections prioritise showing countries and continents at their correct relative scale.
What happens if the UN backs it?
A General Assembly resolution would not be legally binding. However, supporters say its adoption could encourage schools, publishers, international organisations and digital mapping companies to reconsider which world maps they use.
For Togo and the African Union, the issue goes beyond cartography. Supporters argue that showing Africa at its true scale could help correct long-standing misconceptions about the continent’s geographical size and, by extension, its global importance.