United Nations Approves New Map Showing Africa's True Size

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution with 164 votes in favor, encouraging the use of a new world map featuring the Equal Earth projection, which was submitted by Togo and backed by the African Union.

Voting Outcome and Country Positions

In the vote held at the United Nations General Assembly, the resolution was adopted with 164 member states voting in favor. Only the US voted against the resolution, while Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine abstained.

The adopted text encourages governments and international institutions to transition to the Equal Earth projection, which represents geographical proportions more accurately than the traditional Mercator map.

Criticism of the Traditional Mercator Map

Widely used since the 16th century, the Mercator projection exaggerates regions close to the poles while shrinking continents such as Africa and South America.

While Greenland and Africa appear to be the same size on the traditional map, the Equal Earth map, which reflects the true proportions of continents, shows that Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland.

Scope of the Decision and Expert Opinions

The decision does not ban the Mercator projection or impose a mandatory change; it merely encourages the use of the new map. Prior to the vote, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey stated that maps shape the way we perceive the world.

Geographers and experts state that the traditional map is only useful for navigation and that using it in other fields distorts geographical reality.

Statements from Supporters and Officials

Africa No Filter, one of the civil society organizations that led the adoption of the map, announced that they want accurate maps to be used in schools, textbooks, and media outlets.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot shared on social media that changing the map will not change the world, but correcting a flawed representation is a move toward reality.