UN General Assembly endorses Equal Earth map projection with Crimea shown as Russian territory

UNITED NATIONS, September 4. /TASS/. Crimea is colored the same as Russian territory on the Equal Earth projection, which was endorsed by 164 countries in the UN General Assembly, with the US casting the sole vote against it, a TASS correspondent reported.

The map includes a note next to Crimea stating that it is under Russian control, a status disputed by Ukraine. The territory of Crimea is visually separated from Ukraine on the map and colored the same as Russian regions. Earlier, Ukraine abstained from voting on a draft resolution in support of Equal Earth. Ukrainian envoy to the UN Andrey Melnik explained that Kiev considers the depiction of territories under Russian control on Equal Earth maps to be unacceptable and inconsistent with Ukraine’s position on issues of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Equal Earth projection, intended to more accurately depict the actual proportions of Africa and other regions of the world, was proposed as an alternative to the Mercator projection. The draft resolution was supported by 164 states, while six others - Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Serbia, Lithuania, and Estonia - abstained. The US was the only country to vote against it.

Meanwhile, several Western countries emphasized separately that supporting the resolution should not be interpreted as recognizing any changes to internationally recognized borders. Cyprus’ envoy to the UN stated that the document concerns exclusively technical, educational, and scientific aspects of cartographic projections and does not address issues of sovereignty, territorial integrity, or borders.

Crimea reunited with Russia in 2014. The US and Ukraine did not recognize the results of the referendums in Crimea and Sevastopol.

The resolution is not binding and does not prohibit the use of the Mercator projection. It calls on more than 190 UN member states to update educational materials, explain to students the actual sizes of countries and the limitations of various map projections, and encourages major digital mapping services to transition to more accurate representations of the Earth.