UN General Assembly adopts Togo's proposed Equal Earth map

The bill, led by Togo, was accepted with 164 votes against 1 negative vote. 6 countries abstained. The representative of the United States, the only country that rejected the decision, stated that the initiative was "purely ideological" and that "the priority should be international prosperity and peace". The Mercator projection, which was developed in 1569 to facilitate navigation for sailors, has been used as a standard on world maps for nearly five centuries. However, the projection makes areas close to the equator appear smaller than they are and higher latitudes appear larger than they are. While Africa and Greenland appear similar in size on the map, the surface area of ​​Africa is approximately 14 times that of Greenland. Togo's #CorrectTheMap campaign advocates using the Equal Earth map, developed in 2018, instead of Mercator. The campaign's petition on Change.org received more than 11 thousand signatures; The African Union also supported the initiative in August 2025. While historians and geographers argue that the Mercator projection reflects Western judgments, critics say the map reinforces systemic biases in trade, development and education by underestimating the Global South. UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding, but a positive outcome of the vote could lead to updating course curricula and everyday technologies.