UN General Assembly Adopts New World Map to Correct Centuries of 'Cartographic Colonialism'

The resolution, titled "Correct the Map," was spearheaded by Togo and backed by members of the African Union and the Bahamas . It garnered overwhelming support with 164 votes in favor. The United States was the sole country to vote against it, while six nations — Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine — abstained .

Correcting a 500-Year-Old Distortion

For over 450 years, the world has predominantly relied on the Mercator projection, a map created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to aid maritime navigation . While revolutionary for sea travel because it preserves straight compass bearings, the projection suffers from a fundamental flaw: it severely distorts the relative sizes of landmasses .

The distortion is most striking in its depiction of Africa. On a traditional Mercator map, the continent appears roughly the same size as Greenland. In reality, Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland — approximately the size of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The projection system inherently inflates the size of territories closer to the poles while shrinking those near the equator .

Critics and campaigners argue this visual illusion has had real-world consequences, contributing to what they term "cartographic colonialism" and a "symbolic minimization" of Africa, Latin America, and South Asia in the global imagination .

"A map is never neutral," Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey declared at a UN briefing . "It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood," he added .

The Equal Earth Projection

The resolution promotes the adoption of the Equal Earth projection, a map created in 2018 by a team of cartographers . This projection is designed to preserve the relative surface areas of continents and show their shapes as they appear on a globe as accurately as possible .

"Equal Earth preserves the relative surface areas of continents and, as much as possible, shows their shapes as they appear on a globe," said Bojan Savric, one of the map's creators . Under the new map, Africa appears significantly larger, Europe and Russia shrink closer to their actual scale, and Brazil also expands .

Global Reactions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, whose country co-sponsored the resolution, announced that France would abandon the Mercator projection in favor of more accurate representations .

"Changing maps obviously doesn't change the world," Barrot stated. "But correcting a distorted representation is already an act of truth" .

The United States, however, strongly opposed the resolution. U.S. representative Yaryna Ferencevych argued the move distracts from pressing global issues, stating: "Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th Century" .

The Future of the Map

The UN resolution is not legally binding . It does not ban the Mercator projection or mandate the immediate replacement of every world map . Instead, it encourages governments, institutions, schools, and technology platforms like Google Maps to adopt the Equal Earth projection .

India, which voted in favor of the resolution, clarified that its support does not imply acceptance of any political changes to national borders, stating that maps must show its sovereign territories, including Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with its official map .

Despite its non-binding nature, the vote represents a symbolic victory for a years-long campaign seeking to correct a distortion that many see as a symbol of a bygone era, ensuring that future generations see a world closer to its actual proportions.