The United Nations has adopted a new world map designed to provide a more realistic representation of the relative size of continents, giving greater visual prominence to Africa and South America while reducing the exaggerated appearance of Europe and North America.
The resolution supporting the Equal Earth cartographic projection was backed by 164 countries, while six nations abstained. The move has nevertheless drawn criticism from the United States, which argued that the UN should concentrate on more urgent global challenges rather than revisiting centuries-old cartographic practices.
The Equal Earth projection was developed in 2018 by a team of cartographers with the objective of preserving the relative surface areas of continents while keeping their shapes reasonably close to their appearance on a globe.
The UN resolution calls on member states to consider adopting the Equal Earth projection instead of the widely used Mercator map. The Mercator projection, developed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, was primarily designed for maritime navigation.
While the Mercator projection has been highly useful for navigation because it preserves directions and angles, it significantly distorts the size of land masses as they move farther from the Equator.
Under the Mercator system, regions in the northern and southern extremes appear substantially larger than they actually are. This makes countries such as Greenland, Russia, Canada and parts of Europe appear disproportionately large compared with countries closer to the Equator.
One of the most striking differences in the Equal Earth projection is the change in the visual size of Africa. The continent is shown much closer to its actual surface area, while Europe and North America appear smaller than they do on conventional Mercator maps.
Togo, which sponsored the UN resolution, argued that maps are more than technical tools because they influence how people understand the world.
Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said maps can shape education, imagination and public perceptions. He warned that inaccurate representations can become embedded across generations, influencing how people perceive the relative importance and scale of different regions.
The Equal Earth projection attempts to address this problem by prioritising the accurate representation of surface area.
The United States opposed the resolution, questioning whether the UN should devote attention to the issue when the international community faces more immediate challenges.
Supporters of the new projection, however, argue that the debate is not simply about cartography. They say the way countries and continents are visually represented can influence perceptions of geography, power and importance.
The controversy highlights a long-standing problem in mapmaking: it is impossible to accurately flatten a spherical Earth onto a two-dimensional surface without introducing some form of distortion. Different projections therefore make different compromises between preserving area, shape, distance and direction.
France, which co-sponsored the resolution, has announced that it intends to move away from the Mercator projection. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot argued that the traditional map gives disproportionate visual prominence to countries such as the United States, Russia and China, while making Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia appear smaller.
Barrot acknowledged that changing a map would not change geopolitical realities but said correcting a distorted representation could help provide a more accurate picture of the world.
France's support also carries diplomatic significance as Paris seeks to strengthen relations with African countries, including former French colonies where ties have faced growing strains in recent years.
The adoption of the Equal Earth projection does not mean that the Mercator map will disappear immediately. The Mercator projection remains useful for specific purposes, particularly navigation and applications where preserving angles and directions is important.
Instead, the UN-backed move reflects a growing preference for using maps that represent continental areas more faithfully in education, public information and general geographic presentations.
Ultimately, the debate over the new map demonstrates that cartography is not merely about drawing borders and coastlines. The way the world is put on a map can shape the way the world is understood.
Leave Your Comment