United Nations General Assembly Endorses New World Map to Better Represent the True Size of Africa
The United Nations General Assembly endorsed a resolution on Friday to promote the use of the Equal Earth projection as a world map. This new map represents continents in their true proportions, correcting the distortion of the traditional Mercator projection, which makes Africa appear roughly the same size as Greenland despite Africa being 14 times larger. The resolution was sponsored by Togo and supported by the African Union. While 164 member states voted in favor, the United States was the only country to vote against it. Six other countries—Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine—abstained. Representatives from the United States, including Yaryna Ferencevych, criticized the resolution as a radical ideological project. Yaryna Ferencevych argued that the body should focus on genuine problems of international peace and prosperity rather than debating 16th-century map projects. The resolution is nonbinding and does not ban the Mercator projection, but encourages institutions and schools to adopt the Equal Earth map to provide a more accurate representation of the world's landmasses.
Sources
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UN votes to endorse new map projection that shows Africa's size more accurately
CBS News
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Explanation of Vote Before the Vote for UNGA 80 Adoption on the Resolution to “Correct the Map”
United States Mission to the United Nations (.gov)
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UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size
BBC
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Can you guess the real size of each country on the new world map?
Al Jazeera