India backs resolution, while US is the only country to vote against it
The UN General Assembly on Friday backed an African-led proposal calling for greater use of maps that show continents closer to their actual sizes. Video grab/X/@AfricanUnionUN
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The world could soon look a little different on classroom walls, in textbooks and on digital maps.
The UN General Assembly on Friday backed an African-led proposal calling for greater use of maps that show continents closer to their actual sizes.
The resolution, led by Togo and supported
The resolution, led by Togo and supported by the African Union, was adopted with 164 countries voting in favour, one against and six abstaining. India backed the resolution, while the United States was the only country to vote against it.
The proposal, called “Correct the Map”, promotes the use of equal-area map projections, such as the Equal Earth projection. These maps give a more accurate picture of the relative size of continents and countries.
At the centre of the debate is the Mercator map, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. Designed mainly to help sailors navigate, it became one of the most familiar ways of showing the world—in classrooms, textbooks, media and, later, on digital platforms.
The projection significantly exaggerates the size of areas
However, the projection significantly exaggerates the size of areas farther from the Equator. Greenland, for example, appears almost as large as Africa on a Mercator map. In reality, Africa is about 14 times bigger.
Northern Europe and North America are also shown much larger than their actual area compared with countries and continents closer to the Equator.
For African countries, however, this is not just a question of how a map works.
Maps shape our understanding of the world, Togo’s
“Maps shape our understanding of the world,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said before the vote.
The argument is simple: a map cannot change the size of Africa, but the way Africa is shown can influence how people think about the continent.
The African Union has backed the campaign, saying maps should give a fairer and more accurate picture of the world.
One alternative is the Equal Earth projection, developed
One alternative is the Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018. Unlike Mercator, it keeps the relative size of land areas much closer to reality. Africa, therefore, appears as large as it actually is, while Greenland and other northern regions lose the exaggerated size seen on Mercator.
But the issue quickly became political.
The United States, which cast the only vote against the resolution, criticised the proposal as ideological. Its representative questioned the references to “cognitive justice” and reparations, saying the initiative was part of a wider ideological project.
France took a different view. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France planned to move away from Mercator in favour of maps that better show the actual size of land areas.
The debate also raised concerns about disputed territories.
Ukraine was among the six countries that abstained,
Ukraine was among the six countries that abstained, along with Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Serbia. Kyiv supported the effort to correct distortions in maps but raised concerns about how some Equal Earth maps show Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.
The European Union supported the resolution but made it clear that changing a map projection does not change borders, sovereignty or the legal status of any territory.
There is also an important catch: there is no perfect world map.
The Earth is round, but maps are flat. Any map of the world will distort something—size, shape, distance or direction.
Mercator was created for a specific reason
Mercator was created for a specific reason. Its strength is navigation: sailors can use straight lines on the map to plot courses using a constant compass direction.
The problem comes when that same map is used to compare the actual size of countries and continents.
The UN resolution does not ban Mercator. Nor does it force governments, schools or technology companies to replace it.
It is non-binding and simply encourages the use
It is non-binding and simply encourages the use of equal-area maps when showing the relative size of land matters.
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Source: www.tribuneindia.com
