UN Assembly Votes to Change Global Map Representations

On September 4, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly supported an African-led initiative to alter the representation of continents on maps, with 164 nations voting in favor of the resolution titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable Representation of the World’s Regions, Particularly Africa.” The United States was the sole nation to oppose the resolution, while six countries abstained. This initiative, spearheaded by Togo and backed by the African Union, aims to encourage the use of maps that accurately reflect the relative sizes of continents, particularly Africa.

The resolution does not ban the Mercator projection but promotes the use of equal-area projections, such as Equal Earth, as a global standard. The Mercator projection, created by Gerardus Mercator in 1569, is criticized for distorting the size of landmasses, making regions like Europe and North America appear disproportionately large compared to Africa.