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U.N. meeting approves a new world map that shows Africa to scale

From NRC Handelsblad · () Dutch

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

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  • Nearly all U.N. member states voted to adopt a world map that depicts Africa at a more accurate scale.
  • On the current standard map, Africa appears roughly the same size as Greenland, although it is actually 14 times larger.

Nearly all U.N. member states voted Friday evening to introduce a new world map that represents the proportions of countries and continents more accurately.

The change addresses a striking distortion on the current standard map: Africa appears about the same size as Greenland, even though Africa is 14 times larger in reality.

The approved map is intended to show the continent’s scale more truthfully.

About this summary

Originally published by NRC Handelsblad 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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