UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

The UN General Assembly has voted to support replacing the traditional Mercator world map with maps that more accurately represent the relative size of countries and continents, in a move backed by the African Union.

The "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by Togo and supported by the African Union, passed with 164 votes in favour, including those of France and Britain. The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution, while six countries abstained, says the BBC.

Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, whose government sponsored the resolution, said: "A fair world begins with a fair map."

"A map is never neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood," Dussey said.

The Mercator projection, developed in 1569 to aid European navigation, represents the three-dimensional Earth on a flat surface and distorts the relative size of landmasses.

Countries and territories closer to the poles appear significantly larger than they are, while those near the equator appear smaller. Under the Mercator projection, Africa can appear roughly comparable in size to Greenland, although Africa is actually about 14 times larger.

Campaigners and geographers have long pointed to the distortion, noting that Africa is large enough to contain the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe, with land left over.

"You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare," online campaign group #CorrectTheMap said.

Lerato Mogoatlhe, a campaigner at Africa No Filter, said: "Africa's misrepresentation on world maps is not just a cartographic error - it's a narrative issue."

Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo said: "Maps are more than just guides for travellers - they shape how regions are perceived politically and economically."

Supporters of changing the map argue that the distortion has contributed to misconceptions about the scale of Africa and other equatorial regions, including their population, natural resources, development needs and investment potential.

The resolution highlights the Equal Earth projection, an equal-area map developed by cartographers in 2018. The projection preserves the relative size of landmasses and has been adopted by the African Union's 54 member states.

The African Union said the Equal Earth projection "more accurately represents the sizes of all continents, particularly Africa".

The General Assembly resolution is non-binding, but supporters say the vote could encourage schools and institutions around the world to reconsider the maps they use.

France has already announced that its foreign ministry will stop using the Mercator projection.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said: "Changing the map obviously doesn't change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth."

The US representative Yaryna Ferencevych criticised the resolution, saying: "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'."

The vote is non-binding and does not require countries or institutions to adopt a particular map projection, but supporters say it represents a push to change how the world is visually represented in educational and institutional materials.