As part of a step that goes beyond the boundaries of geography to what is linked to the image of the world in public consciousness, the United Nations General Assembly is preparing to vote on a draft resolution calling for the adoption of maps that show the true areas of continents and countries more accurately. In an effort to reduce the distortions that have been perpetuated by the widespread use of the Mercator map for decades.
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a resolution calling on the world to abandon the traditional Mercator map, which reduces the area of Africa and enlarges the land areas in the northern regions, in favor of designs that more accurately reflect the true size of countries, according to the Independent newspaper.
The draft resolution calls on governments, schools, international organizations, and technology companies to adopt iso-Earth projections and other equal-area maps, where the true size of continents is important; With the aim of establishing the use of more accurate maps that represent the actual size of lands as a new global standard. On the other hand, the project does not seek to completely ban the use of Mercator projection.
Voting is scheduled to take place on Friday.
The Mercator projection, which is currently used around the world, increases the distortion in the representation of areas the farther the region is from the equator. Because Africa is located largely in the tropical region; They appear relatively smaller than their actual size, while Europe, North America, Greenland, and Russia appear much larger than their actual areas.
As a result; Africa, along with Latin America, India and other tropical regions, appears much smaller than it actually is when compared to northern countries and regions. For example, the map shows Africa at roughly the same size as Greenland, even though the area of the African continent is about 14 times larger than Greenland.
Togolese Foreign Minister, Robert Ducey, announced that his country had submitted a draft United Nations resolution with the support of the African Union, without specifying the number of countries that supported voting on the resolution.
In a briefing to the African Group at the United Nations this week, Ducey said the importance of the issue goes beyond geography alone.
Ducey explained, “The map is never neutral. It shapes perceptions, affects the understanding of the place of peoples and continents in the world, and may sometimes establish, from the early stages of education, perceptions that are not compatible with geographical reality.”
He added: “Africa does not demand preferential treatment, but rather demands that its reality, aspirations, and contribution to the international system be taken into account.”
Ducey urged African delegations to expand support for the resolution before the vote scheduled for Friday, describing the vote as a test of the continent's ability to act with one voice within the United Nations.
As part of these efforts, Togo hosted a reception for all UN member states on the eve of the vote.
In response to a question about whether he expected opposition to the resolution, Ducey said he was seeking the broadest possible consensus.
He said: “I am an academic before I am a politician. As an academic, I say we must reach as much consensus as possible; Because we are here at the United Nations, and we do not know what might happen.”
A petition launched by the campaign on the “Change” crowdfunding platform, under the hashtag #CorrectTheMap, collected about 11,000 signatures before the vote. The African Union had endorsed the campaign in August 2025, and asked Togo to lead efforts to have it adopted at the United Nations.
“As Africa becomes more important in solving global challenges, it becomes necessary to represent its true size,” the petition says.
Historians and geographers have long argued that the Mercator map reflects Western assumptions about the world, while some activists have used the term “cartographic colonialism” to denounce what they described as the negative effects resulting from the way the map represents the sizes of continents and countries.
The United States is discussing the idea of granting Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missile interceptors, which Kiev desperately needs to repel Russian attacks, but it is “not an immediate solution,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.
In response to a question to know if he was opposed to the idea of the United States granting such a license, he said: “This is a topic of current discussion, but it is not an immediate solution.”
He stated on the “Brian Kilmeade” program on “Fox News” that “increasing production, even if we have a license, is a path that takes many years in order to build factories, as these are very advanced weapons.”
He added: “The issue is under discussion. “The discussions may reach their conclusion, but they will not actually solve the problem in the short term,” according to what was reported by “Agence France-Presse.”
During a visit to Washington in July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he discussed with Donald Trump the issue of “licenses to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.”
Recently, both Kiev and Moscow have intensified their mutual strikes, killing an increasing number of civilians more than four years after the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Air defenses, especially against ballistic missiles that are difficult to block, are an absolute priority for Kiev.
Rubio pointed out in the interview that “the whole world is asking for more interceptor missiles.”
He said: “The need for interceptor missiles has become the greatest in the field of defense at the global level, not only in Ukraine but in the entire world,” especially in the Middle East in light of the war on Iran.
The 55th meeting of leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum opened on Monday in Palau with a clear message that “external partners do not have the right to decide our fate,” with at least five leaders absent from the tense talks between China and Taiwan.
The summit addresses a number of pressing regional challenges, including climate change and drug-related crimes, as well as the repercussions of the Chinese test of launching a ballistic missile last July, which fell into the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
At least five leaders from member states will not attend the summit in person, but will send their representatives.
Agence France-Presse sources reported that Chinese diplomats informed the leaders of the Pacific Islands that they would not participate in the side events in Palau, which the Taiwanese Foreign Minister may attend.
The President of the Palau Islands, Surangel Whipps Jr., said during the opening of the meeting: “We welcome the presence of our partners with us, but they are not the ones who determine our destination,” stressing the need for the Pacific islands to unite on one position.
For his part, Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Rick Ho considered that “strategic competition is escalating around us,” adding: “The forum must remain a political house in which Pacific leaders speak frankly, listen seriously, and present their own ideas alone.”
He continued: “We welcome our partners and appreciate their support, but this support should help us achieve our tasks, not define them.”
He attended, representing the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Matthew Wali, who left unexpectedly on Sunday, heading to his country to deal with an urgent political crisis after one of the ministers submitted a motion of no confidence in him.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that Pacific countries “make their own decisions regarding which delegations they send and who heads them.”
She added in a statement to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): “This forum allows Pacific countries to make decisions on their own,” noting that “in an era of regional competition and conflict... the presence of a strong regional organization and a regional mechanism that makes decisions is one way to deal with the asymmetry of power between major powers and small countries.”
Also absent from the meeting were the president of Kiribati, which is close to Beijing, the prime ministers of Samoa and Vanuatu, and the president of the French province of New Caledonia.
About 110 police officers, who attended from various Pacific islands, will maintain security during the meeting in the first large-scale practical application of cooperation in this field at the region level.
Australia, the forum's largest country and donor, is leading efforts to achieve self-security within the forum, arguing that there is no need for Chinese police to be present in the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
