The UN approves a resolution to replace the Mercator map with a more accurate one

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution this Friday to stop using the current world map design and replace it with one more faithful to the size of the continents, especially that of Africa, which for centuries has appeared disproportionately small.

The resolution, supported by 164 countries against one, the United States, and six abstentions, promotes the progressive abandonment of the cartographic projection known as Mercator, used since 1569, in favor of models such as Equal Earth, designed in 2018 to more accurately represent the surface of the continents.

Only the United States opposed the resolution, while six other countries abstained. The initiative was promoted by Togo.

Although the resolution does not prohibit the use of Mercator, it seeks for the UN and agencies such as UNESCO to start using the Equal Earth projection, which “offers a more accurate representation” of the size of the continents, as detailed in the document.

Furthermore, it urges Member States, international organizations and other entities to adopt and disseminate this design.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo, Robert Dussey, assured the General Assembly that the cartographic projections used in academic manuals, media, digital platforms and various official documents “do not faithfully reflect the real surface of the continents.”

“Its use for general information or educational purposes continues to have a lasting impact on the perception that entire generations have of our world,” he highlighted.

According to Dussey, these perceptions have contributed to “symbolically minimizing the size of Africa and other regions, generating an unbalanced view of world geography.”

"Maps are not only geographical tools. They shape our understanding of the world, guide education, feed the imagination and influence collective perceptions. Thus, they are never neutral," he said.

Therefore, correcting the maps means “committing to the fidelity of the facts, recognizing that all regions of the world deserve to be represented reliably, faithfully and with dignity and transmitting to future generations a more fair, balanced and realistic image of the world.”

For its part, the United States delegation argued during the session that the country understands the resolution "as something inseparable from a more radical and broader ideological project" and criticized that the General Assembly "is debating issues of 19th century maps, talking about reparation and cognitive justice."