Africa Gets Bigger, the US Smaller: UN Votes for a New World Map

Africa will appear larger and North America and Europe smaller on maps recommended by a new United Nations resolution. The vote triggered outrage in Washington.

The Equal Earth projection, co-developed by Slovenian cartographer Bojan Šavrič, is described in the resolution as improving the accuracy of the world's cartographic representation. Togo's foreign minister, Robert Dussey, who proposed the resolution, said maps shape education, imagination and collective perceptions.

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Therefore, they are never neutral; when they show a distorted image of our planet, they risk preserving an inaccurate depiction that is passed from generation to generation

"Therefore, they are never neutral; when they show a distorted image of our planet, they risk preserving an inaccurate depiction that is passed from generation to generation," Dussey said. The resolution received 164 votes in favor. The United States voted against it, while six countries abstained.

The US sharply criticized the measure. Before the vote, US representative Yaryna Ferencevych said such initiatives were "the reason this institution is losing its credibility." She added: "Instead of focusing on real problems … this body is discussing 16th-century cartographic projections and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice."

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the reason this institution is losing its credibility

The vote is not binding, but it is expected to bring changes to maps used by institutions around the world. The Mercator projection, created by Gerardus Mercator in 1569, remains widely used, including in classrooms, online map services and maritime navigation. It keeps lines of longitude and latitude straight, which helps navigators plot courses, but greatly distorts the size of landmasses near the poles. Greenland and Africa look roughly similar in size on Mercator maps, although Africa is 14 times larger in reality.

The African Union, which brings together 55 countries, has pushed for Equal Earth or an equivalent-area projection. Šavrič, a graduate of Slovenia's Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering who lives and works in California, helped develop the 2018 projection, which shows countries and continents according to their actual areas.

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Instead of focusing on real problems … this body is discussing 16th-century cartographic projections and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice.