UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size
The UN General Assembly has voted to adopt a new world map projection that more accurately represents the size of Africa, moving away from the traditional Mercator projection. The resolution, supported by 164 nations, aims to correct historical cartographic distortions that minimized the scale of equatorial regions.
Why it matters
This shift addresses long-standing criticisms regarding the geopolitical bias inherent in traditional map projections and their impact on how global development needs are perceived.
Image caption, The Mercator projection is the map widely used across the globe but inaccurately depicts the sizes of countries and continents
The UN General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of Africa.
The "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, passed with the support of 164 nations, including France and the UK. The United States was the only nation to vote against it - and there were six abstentions.
The UN vote is non-binding but will see changes to the maps used by institutions around the world.
The Mercator map, which has been in common use since the 16th Century, has come in for criticism as it shows Africa as similar in size to Greenland, even though it is 14 times larger.
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