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Saturday, 5 September 2026dailybeirut.com
World
The UN General Assembly approved a resolution urging gradual replacement of the Mercator projection with more accurate equal-area maps, notably the 2018 “Earth Equal” design, backed by Togo and the African Union.
The UN General Assembly voted in favour of a resolution calling for the phased replacement of the traditional Mercator map projection with cartographic alternatives that more accurately represent the relative sizes of continents. At the forefront of the proposed alternatives is the “Earth Equal” map, introduced in 2018.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the resolution was initiated by Togo and endorsed by the African Union. It received backing from 164 countries; six states voted against it, and six others abstained.
Togo, acting on behalf of the African Union to spearhead the resolution, stated that “disproportionate cartographic representations—particularly those resulting from the Mercator projection—have had long-lasting epistemic, educational, cultural, geopolitical, social, and economic effects. They have sharply diminished the perceived size of Africa and other world regions within the global collective imagination.”
The Mercator projection dates to 1569, when Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator developed it to aid maritime navigation. However, it increasingly distorts landmass size the farther locations lie from the equator: equatorial regions appear smaller than they are, while northern and southern high-latitude areas appear disproportionately enlarged.
A prominent illustration is Greenland, which appears roughly the same size as Africa on Mercator maps—though Africa is actually approximately 14 times larger.
The campaign extends beyond technical cartography into cultural and political domains. Supporters argue that decades of Mercator’s dominance have reinforced an unbalanced worldview—visually diminishing Africa and the Global South while inflating the apparent scale of Northern Hemisphere nations.
Some activists and historians refer to this phenomenon as “cartographic colonialism,” asserting that conventional geographic representations—albeit indirectly—have helped entrench perceptions aligned with global power hierarchies.
Togo and the African Union advocate adoption of the “Earth Equal” map, which preserves the proportional surface areas of continents and countries. They view it as a tool to correct prevailing misconceptions about Africa and to prompt revisions of global educational curricula.
France announced its support for the resolution and confirmed it would discontinue use of the Mercator projection in favour of more context-appropriate map projections—including the Eckert IV projection, which closely approximates “Earth Equal.”
Togo plans to host a meeting in its capital, Lomé, during the first quarter of next year. Participants will include UNESCO, the African Union, and technology firms such as Google Maps, to discuss mechanisms for implementing the resolution.
According to Togolese officials, the initiative reflects a broader African aspiration—not only to achieve scientific accuracy in geographic representation but also to reshape the global mental image of Africa’s scale and significance.
While UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, the decision does not mandate compulsory use of the new maps. Instead, it may catalyse changes across school curricula, digital mapping platforms, technological applications, and governmental institutions.
Analysts suggest that wider adoption of equal-area projections could equip future generations with a more precise understanding of Africa’s geographic, demographic, economic, and political weight.
