U.N. Urges Replacing the Map That “Misled” the World for 500 Years by Shrinking Africa and Enlarging Europe. Why the U.S. Voted Against It

The world map used by generations to learn geography does not show the relative size of continents accurately. Africa appears smaller than it is, Greenland looks enormous, and regions near the poles expand visually because of the way the globe is projected onto a flat surface.

The distortion comes from the Mercator projection, created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. Designed for navigation, it preserves angles and directions, making it useful for plotting maritime routes. Its treatment of area is less accurate: the farther a territory lies from the Equator, the larger it appears on the map.

The contrast becomes especially striking when Mercator is compared with projections designed to preserve surface proportions. Greenland appears almost as large as Africa on the familiar map, although it is actually about 14 times smaller than the African continent. In the alternative representation, Africa occupies visibly more space while Greenland loses its exaggerated size. The United States and Russia also appear smaller, while Europe, including Romania, is reduced somewhat.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Sept. 4 encouraging the use of projections that better represent the areas of continents and countries. Togo proposed the initiative, which received 164 votes in favor. The United States was the only country to vote against it. Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained.

The resolution does not abolish Mercator or impose one replacement map. It recommends using projections that preserve territorial proportions more accurately when the size of land areas is important.