U.N. approves resolution in support of map that shows Africa’s true size
The United Nations has passed a resolution supporting a shift from the traditional Mercator map to the Equal Earth projection to better represent the true size of African nations. Sponsored by Togo, the initiative aims to counter the visual marginalization of the continent, though the U.S. voted against it, citing it as an ideological distraction.
Why it matters
This move highlights the growing geopolitical push to decolonize educational and cartographic standards to better reflect global equity.
The United Nations on Friday (September 4, 2026) voted for a shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting countries’ true size, a resolution sponsored by African states to counter perceptions that the continent is peripheral.
Togo led the initiative to further the African Union campaign to limit use of the Mercator map, which distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those nearer the poles. It makes Greenland appear roughly the same size as Africa, though Africa is about 14 times larger.
“A fair world begins with a fair map,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Reuters ahead of the vote.
The resolution promotes the Equal Earth projection, which more accurately portrays the size of the continents.
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