UN General Assembly backs a more realistic world map

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to encourage a new world map that shows the continents closer to their actual sizes, challenging the Mercator projection commonly used since the 16th century.

The nonbinding “Correct the Map” resolution won support from 164 countries. The United States was the only country to vote against it, while Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine abstained. The resolution, introduced by Togo and the African Union, calls on governments and international organisations to consider the Equal Earth projection in future maps.

Created in 2018 by a group of geographers, Equal Earth aims to preserve the relative areas of continents more accurately. Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania appear much larger than on conventional world maps, while the United States appears smaller.

The United States rejected the resolution, describing the initiative as part of a radical ideological project. Supporters argue that maps are not neutral because they influence how people understand the planet.

Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told the General Assembly, “Maps shape our understanding of the world.” He warned that maps can present a distorted image of the planet and reinforce false ideas across generations.

The Mercator map traces back to Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish cartographer born in 1512 who developed it for navigation. Its design enlarges areas at high latitudes. Greenland can appear comparable in size to Africa on some versions, even though Africa’s area is nearly 14 times larger than Greenland’s when measured on a globe.

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Maps shape our understanding of the world.