Africa takes ‘Correct the Map’ campaign to UN General Assembly

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly will on Friday vote on an African-led effort to change how the world sees itself on a map .

The draft resolution argues that the centuries-old Mercator projection dramatically enlarges landmasses farther from the equator, leaving Africa appearing disproportionately small.

Backed by the African Union (AU), the text encourages governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to use “Equal Earth” and other equal-area maps where continental size matters.

It does not ban Mercator but seeks to establish more proportionally accurate maps as a new global norm.

Africa is taking a campaign to change the way the world is represented on maps to the United Nations — with Togo playing a leading role in an effort that argues the continent has been visually diminished for centuries.

“This campaign is not a Togolese initiative.

It’s for the African continent.

It’s very important to know that now, when you see the situation of the African continent and the whole role the African continent is playing in the world, our role is not what you know.

We can do better than what we are seeing right now.

So, this campaign is not political.

It’s a scientific campaign because the two African sizes, as a geographical tool, are clear,” says Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey.

The draft GA text seeks to : Correct the Mercator distortion of continental sizes that make Africa and other equatorial regions appear proportionately smaller.

Promoting Equal Earth’s projection & encouraging countries and international organizations to use it and other equal-area projections.

Changing educational tools by encouraging places of learning schools to use representations that more accurately reflect the true sizes of continents.