UN Votes to Replace Mercator Map, Giving Africa a More Accurate Size

The United Nations General Assembly has backed a move to replace the traditional Mercator world map with a projection that more accurately reflects the size of Africa and other continents.

The non-binding resolution, sponsored by Togo and supported by African Union members, passed with the backing of 164 countries. France and the United Kingdom were among those supporting the measure, while the United States voted against it and six countries abstained.

Although the resolution does not legally force governments or institutions to change their maps, it is expected to encourage organisations around the world to adopt mapping systems that present a more accurate picture of continental landmass.

Why the Mercator map is controversial

The Mercator projection has been used widely since it was developed in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator.

Its major strength is navigation: it represents directions and angles in a way that proved extremely useful for European explorers and sailors.

But there is a significant trade-off.

The projection distorts the relative size of land areas, particularly as they get closer to the North and South Poles. Countries and regions near the equator appear smaller, while areas closer to the poles appear considerably larger.

One of the most striking examples is Greenland and Africa.

On a conventional Mercator map, Greenland can appear comparable in size to Africa. In reality, Africa covers about 30.4 million square kilometres, while Greenland is about 2.2 million square kilometres.

That makes Africa roughly 14 times larger than Greenland.

The distortion has fuelled a long-running debate about whether widely used maps have unintentionally shaped perceptions of Africa’s importance, resources and economic potential.

Equal Earth projection offers an alternative

The UN-backed campaign points towards the Equal Earth projection, developed by cartographers in 2018 specifically to provide a more accurate representation of continental areas while maintaining a recognisable global map.

The African Union’s 54 member states adopted the Equal Earth projection in February, describing it as a representation that more accurately reflects the size of continents, particularly Africa.

Campaigners behind #CorrectTheMap have argued that the difference becomes obvious when comparing the continent with other major landmasses.

They point out that the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and large parts of Europe could fit within Africa’s enormous land area.

‘A fair world begins with a fair map’

Togo, which sponsored the UN resolution, has framed the issue as more than a technical disagreement between cartographers.

Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Reuters ahead of the vote: “A fair world begins with a fair map.”

He also argued that maps influence how people understand the importance and position of different regions.

“A map is never neutral,” Dussey said, arguing that maps can shape perceptions of how peoples and continents are positioned within the global system.

The campaign has attracted support from France. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said his ministry would stop using the Mercator projection.

Barrot acknowledged that changing a map would not change the physical world, but argued that correcting a distorted representation was an important step towards greater accuracy.

Why the United States opposed the resolution

The United States took a sharply different position.

Speaking before the vote, US representative Yaryna Ferencevych criticised the resolution and questioned whether the UN General Assembly should be spending its time debating historical map projections.

She argued that the body should remain focused on major international issues such as peace, prosperity and relations between nations.

The disagreement reflects a wider debate over whether maps should be viewed simply as technical tools or also as cultural and political representations.

More than cartography

For African campaigners, the issue goes beyond geography.

Lerato Mogoatlhe of Africa No Filter, one of the organisations involved in the campaign, described Africa’s representation on conventional maps as a narrative issue.

The argument is that repeatedly seeing Africa presented as smaller than it actually is can influence perceptions of the continent’s resources, population, investment opportunities and global significance.

Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo similarly argued that maps can influence political and economic perceptions, rather than simply helping people navigate from one place to another.

This is particularly significant for Africa, a continent with enormous geographical, demographic and natural-resource diversity.

What happens next?

The UN resolution is non-binding, so it will not immediately force every government, school, company or digital mapping platform to abandon the Mercator projection.

However, the vote gives international visibility to the campaign for more accurate representations of continental size and could encourage institutions to review the maps they use.

The debate also highlights an important reality of cartography: there is no perfect flat map of a spherical Earth. Every world map involves compromises between size, shape, distance and direction.

For Africa, however, supporters of the UN resolution believe that improving how the continent is represented is about more than getting the geography right. They argue that a map can influence how the world sees a place — and how people see themselves.

Written by Boom RadioNG