United Nations Votes to Replace Mercator World Map, Citing Distorted View of Africa’s Size

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to call for the replacement of the centuries-old Mercator map that has long adorned classroom walls with a more accurate alternative — but not before the United States issued a sharp rebuke of the initiative.America was the only country to vote against the resolution, with the deputy United States representative to the UN Economic and Social Council, Yaryna Ferencevych, delivering a blunt statement before the vote.“This resolution mocks the work and purpose of this institution. Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and ‘cognitive justice.’ Resolutions like this and the ideological agenda they promote are barnacles on our work here and the reason this institution is losing its credibility,” she said.Unswayed by Ms. Ferencevych’s opposition, the “Correct the Map” resolution — put forward by Togo on behalf of the African Union — passed with 164 votes in favor and six abstentions.The resolution calls for the Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, to be replaced by the Equal Earth projection, which was developed in 2018 by cartographers Tom Patterson, Bernhard Jenny, and Bojan Šavrič. The Mercator projection distorts the size of landmasses, making regions closer to the poles appear significantly larger than they are. On the Mercator map, for example, Greenland appears similar in size to Africa — when in reality, Africa is 14 times larger.Togo’s foreign affairs minister, Robert Dussey, framed the issue ahead of the vote. “Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions,” he said. “This discussion is not a political discussion [but] a scientific discussion, because there is scientific proof, so we all have to accept the reality.”The resolution is non-binding, meaning countries and institutions are not required to abandon the Mercator projection in which lines of longitude remain parallel rather than converge at the poles. However, it encourages governments, international organizations, and educational institutions to adopt the Equal Earth projection going forward. The UN also urged digital mapping platforms — such as Google Maps, which currently uses a version of the Mercator projection — to engage with member states and make the switch.France announced ahead of the vote that it would abandon the Mercator projection in favor of more accurate representations. “The United States, Russia, and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America, or Southeast Asia,” the French foreign affairs minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said in a statement. “Distortions eventually take root in perceptions, and the time has come to correct them.”Supporters of the resolution argue the Mercator projection has had lasting consequences beyond cartography. Critics have long contended that it reinforces systemic biases by visually inflating northern hemisphere nations while shrinking equatorial regions — a phenomenon some have called “cartographic colonialism.”“Africa, once diminished on maps, now insists on being seen at its true scale — geographically, historically, morally, culturally, economically, diplomatically, and globally,” the commissioner for the AU’s Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Amma Twum-Amoah, said in a statement in March.Tom Patterson, one of the Equal Earth projection’s creators, expressed surprise at the outcome: “Wow. When we created the Equal Earth projection in 2018, we never imagined this,” he wrote on social media following the vote.

United Nations Votes to Replace Mercator World Map, Citing Distorted View of Africa’s Size

United Nations Votes to Replace Mercator World Map, Citing Distorted View of Africa’s Size

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