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🇮🇳 India /Culture & Society

A bigger Africa and a smaller Europe: UN backs map showing continents more accurately

From Times of India · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News From a news agency Approved/passed
  • The UN General Assembly endorsed a Togo-led resolution encouraging governments and institutions to consider using the Equal Earth projection instead of the traditional Mercator map.
  • The resolution won support from 164 countries, while the United States voted against and six countries abstained.
  • Equal Earth shows Africa at about 14 times Greenland’s size, but the resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or require its replacement.

A Togo-led campaign to correct the way the world appears on maps won backing from the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, with 164 countries supporting a resolution titled “Correct The Map.”

The United States voted against the resolution. Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine abstained. The campaign, backed by the African Union and advocacy groups, urges governments and institutions to move away from the Mercator projection and consider the Equal Earth projection instead.

The difference is most striking in the portrayal of Africa and Greenland. On Mercator maps, Greenland appears roughly comparable in size to Africa, even though it is far smaller. Equal Earth presents Africa as about 14 times larger than Greenland and shows continents in proportions closer to their actual size.

Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.

· Robert DusseyTogo’s foreign minister described the broader influence of map projections before the UN vote.

The resolution does not prohibit Mercator maps or require institutions to replace them. A UN report says it simply encourages governments and institutions to consider Equal Earth. The newer projection, introduced in 2018, accounts for the Earth’s curvature. Under it, Europe appears smaller, Brazil larger and Greenland dramatically reduced, while Africa occupies a much greater share of the map.

“Maps shape our understanding of the world,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said in remarks quoted by the UN before the vote. “They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”

Africa No Filter, one of the campaign’s leading groups, called for accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, businesses and digital platforms. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also welcomed the vote, saying, “Changing the map obviously doesn’t change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth.”

Changing the map obviously doesn’t change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth.

· Jean-Noël BarrotThe French foreign minister welcomed the resolution and its call for more accurate representations.
About this summary

Originally published by Times of India in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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