UN scraps familiar world map to fix massive Mercator distortion
Photo: father and daughter examining a globe (Getty Images)
The UN General Assembly has supported an initiative by African countries for more accurate representation of continent sizes on world maps. This primarily concerns abandoning the traditional Mercator projection, which has been used for several centuries and significantly distorts the proportional areas of territories, according to NPR.
The Mercator projection was created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It was well-suited for navigation, as it helped sailors plot routes, but has a significant drawback: the farther a territory is located from the equator, the larger it appears on the map.
Because of this, on conventional maps Africa visually appears much smaller than it actually is. The comparison with Greenland is particularly telling: on the Mercator map they may appear approximately the same size, although Africa is approximately 14 times larger than Greenland.
This became the basis for the "Correct the Map" campaign, which Togo promoted on behalf of African countries. Its supporters insist that a map is not only a technical tool but also a way of shaping people's perception of the world.
What the UN decided
On September 4, the UN General Assembly supported the corresponding resolution with 164 votes. Six countries abstained, and the United States became the only country to vote against it.
The document calls for broader use of cartographic projections that more accurately represent the actual areas of continents. One of the main options is Equal Earth—a projection created in 2018 specifically to preserve more accurate area proportions of territories.
On such a map, Africa becomes noticeably larger compared to Europe and Greenland, while territories near the poles, conversely, appear visually smaller.
This is what the refined Earth map looks like according to the UN resolution (photo and graphics by NPR)
Will the Mercator map disappear?
Not entirely. The UN General Assembly resolution is not legally binding, so it does not force countries, schools, or technology companies to immediately abandon the Mercator projection. At the same time, supporters of the initiative hope that the UN decision will encourage international organizations, publishers, educational institutions, and digital map developers to use more accurate projections.
Campaign supporters emphasize that the problem extends far beyond cartography. In their view, the conventional visual diminishment of Africa over generations has influenced perceptions of the continent's significance, its economic potential, and its place in world politics.
Togo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Dussey said that a just world began with a just map.
What will change for ordinary users?
Most likely, the familiar world map will not disappear from screens immediately. Changes, if they occur, may gradually affect school atlases, textbooks, international organizations, media, and digital mapping services.
In particular, the resolution includes a call for technology platforms to engage with states and international organizations regarding the implementation of more accurate projections. At the same time, services like Google Maps currently use a variant of the Mercator projection for their maps.
Thus, the UN decision itself does not "redraw" the world map, but creates an international framework for a gradual transition to a method of depicting the planet that more accurately shows the actual sizes of continents.
