UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

The United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt a new world map intended to depict Africa’s true proportions, although the resolution carries no binding authority. The Mercator projection, first devised in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to aid European explorers in navigating the globe, inherently distorts size because a sphere cannot be perfectly flattened onto a plane. As a result, landmasses near the equator appear reduced while those closer to the poles are exaggerated. Whenever a global representation is produced, trade‑offs are unavoidable. In 2018 a group of cartographers introduced the Equal Earth projection, an equal‑area alternative designed to reduce those distortions. In February the African Union’s 54 member states endorsed the Equal Earth projection, stating that it “more accurately represents the sizes of each continent, particularly Africa.” Ahead of the Friday vote, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Reuters, “A just satellite begins with a just map.” Earlier he had remarked to a UN briefing, “A representation is ne’er neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences however the spot of peoples and continents successful the satellite is understood.” While the UN’s decision is non‑binding, it is expected to prompt updates to the maps employed by international institutions worldwide.