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🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates /Culture & Society

UN to vote on adopting a new world map

From Gulf Today · () English

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

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • The UN General Assembly is due to vote on a resolution promoting equal-area maps, including the Equal Earth projection, over the traditional Mercator projection where continental scale matters.
  • Togo, backed by the African Union, says Mercator maps make Africa appear far smaller while enlarging northern landmasses.
  • The proposal would establish more proportionally accurate maps as a global norm but would not ban Mercator maps outright.

The United Nations is preparing to vote on whether the world should move away from the familiar Mercator map, which makes Africa look far smaller than its true size while enlarging northern landmasses.

The draft resolution calls on governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to use the Equal Earth projection and other equal-area maps wherever the actual scale of continents matters. It does not seek to outlaw Mercator. The vote is scheduled for Friday.

A map is never neutral

· Robert DusseyTogo’s foreign minister used the phrase to argue that map projections shape perceptions of continents and peoples.

Mercator distortion increases the farther a region lies from the equator. Africa straddles the equator, so it appears relatively small, while Europe, North America, Greenland and Russia look substantially larger than they are. Africa appears on the projection to be similar in size to Greenland, even though the continent is 14 times larger than the Danish territory. Latin America, India and other equatorial regions are also shown as smaller relative to northern countries than their actual areas.

Africa is not asking for preferential treatment

· Robert DusseyDussey said Africa was seeking accurate recognition of its size, aspirations and contribution, rather than special treatment.

Togo brought the resolution with backing from the African Union, Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said. Speaking to the African Group at the UN, he argued that the issue goes beyond geography. “A map is never neutral,” Dussey said, because maps shape perceptions and influence how people understand the place of continents in the world, sometimes from their earliest years of schooling.

“Africa is not asking for preferential treatment,” Dussey said. “Africa is asking that its reality, aspirations and contribution to the international system be duly taken into account.” He urged African delegations to widen support before the vote, calling it a test of the continent’s ability to act with one voice at the UN. Togo hosted a reception for all UN member states on the eve of the vote as part of that effort.

Africa is asking that its reality, aspirations and contribution to the international system be duly taken into account.

· Robert DusseyHe called for Africa’s geographic scale and wider role to be properly reflected.

Asked whether he expected opposition, Dussey said he wanted the broadest possible consensus. “I’m an academic before a politician,” he said. “As an academic, I say we have to have as large a consensus as possible, because we are here at the UN, we never know.” A Change.org petition for the #CorrectTheMap campaign had collected about 11,000 signatures ahead of the vote. The African Union endorsed the campaign in August 2025 and asked Togo to lead the push.

I’m an academic before a politician

· Robert DusseyDussey used the phrase while advocating the broadest possible consensus at the UN.
About this summary

Originally published by Gulf Today in English. 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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