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🇧🇪 Belgium /Culture & Society

Africa no longer diminished: UN backs world map with fairer proportions

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

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

At a glance

News Named sources Approved/passed
  • The United Nations adopted a nonbinding resolution supporting the Equal Earth projection as a more accurate alternative to the widely used Mercator map.
  • A total of 164 countries backed the resolution, six abstained and the United States voted against it.
  • The resolution does not require countries to change maps, but experts expect schools, governments and technology companies to adopt the projection.

Africa may soon look less diminished on the world's maps. The United Nations has backed a resolution supporting the Equal Earth projection, which represents countries according to their actual surface areas more accurately than the Mercator map used in many classrooms, institutions and digital services.

The resolution received support from 164 countries. Six abstained, while the United States was the only country to vote against it. Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told The Guardian that the issue was scientific rather than political. "This is not a political, but a scientific discussion," he said. "The scientific evidence is there, so we must accept reality."

This is not a political, but a scientific discussion.

· Robert DusseyTogo's foreign minister described the map debate to The Guardian.

The Flemish cartographer Gerard Mercator developed his projection around 500 years ago to depict the globe on a flat surface. Its proportions become increasingly distorted farther from the equator. Greenland and Russia therefore appear much larger than they are, while equatorial countries such as Congo and Brazil look smaller.

The scientific evidence is there, so we must accept reality.

· Robert DusseyDussey argued that the UN should adopt the more accurate projection.

South America and Africa suffer the greatest distortion. Greenland appears roughly the same size as Africa on the Mercator map, although Africa is about 14 times larger in reality. The Equal Earth map instead shows countries in closer proportion to their actual size.

UN resolutions are not legally binding. Countries will not be required to use the new projection, and the Mercator map will not be prohibited. Still, experts expect educational institutions, governments and technology companies to change their maps quickly because Mercator remains the norm. France has already said it will switch, choosing maps that better represent actual surface areas, as scientists and cartographers recommend.

We are removing the Mercator projection and choosing maps that better represent actual surface areas, as scientists and cartographers recommend.

· French foreign ministerFrance announced that it would move away from the Mercator projection.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. 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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