UNITED NATIONS — In a historic step toward correcting centuries of visual bias, the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution endorsing a new world map projection that accurately depicts the true scale of the African continent.

The resolution, titled "Correct The Map," was spearheaded by Togo and supported by the African Union. It passed on Friday with overwhelming international support: 164 member states voted in favor, six countries abstained (Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine), and the United States stood as the sole vote against the measure.

Correcting a 450-Year-Old Distorted Lens

The move targets the widely used Mercator projection, created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. While highly useful for 16th-century sea navigation because it preserves direction and linear bearings, the Mercator map severely distorts landmass sizes as they move farther from the equator.

Under the traditional Mercator view, regions near the poles—including North America, Europe, and Greenland—are drastically enlarged, while equatorial landmasses such as Africa and South America appear compressed.

  • The Reality Gap: On a standard Mercator map, Greenland appears roughly the same size as Africa. In actual landmass, Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland.

  • Other Discrepancies: Alaska looks equivalent in size to Brazil on Mercator projections, whereas Brazil is actually nearly five times larger.

The UN resolution urges governments, schools, newsrooms, and digital platforms to transition toward the Equal Earth projection—a pseudocylindrical map designed in 2018 that preserves relative area sizes while maintaining natural-looking land shapes.

"A Fair World Begins with a Fair Map"

Ahead of the UN vote, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey emphasized the deep psychological and cultural impact of cartographic representation.

"Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions," Dussey stated, adding: "A fair world begins with a fair map."

Advocacy organization Africa No Filter, a primary campaigner for the reform, celebrated the vote as a victory against colonial-era legacies. Executive Director Moky Makura noted that if a fundamental representation like a continent's geographical size has been distorted for centuries, it warrants re-examining other long-standing perceptions about Africa.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also welcomed the vote, announcing France’s intention to move away from Mercator map usage in official communications. "Changing the map obviously doesn't change the world," Barrot posted on social platform X. "But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth."

Non-Binding Guidance, Not a Ban

The United Nations clarified that Friday's resolution is not legally binding and does not outlaw the Mercator projection. It explicitly acknowledges that Mercator remains fully suited for specialized maritime and aerial navigation.

Instead, the resolution serves as diplomatic guidance for education, public media, commercial publishers, and tech giants operating global mapping and GPS applications to adopt equal-area maps for general visual reference.

Togo announced plans to update its national school geography curriculum by the end of the year and intends to convene regional workshops over the next six months to coordinate global outreach across educational and technology sectors.