The United Nations has voted to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects countries’ true sizes, a resolution sponsored by African states to right a centuries-old wrong.
asserted
that → vote → wrong
The “Correct the Map” resolution adopted by the UN general assembly on Friday aims to address a colonial-era injustice that has visually shrunk Africa for 450 years, shaping how the continent is perceived in media, education and policy around the world.
asserted
continent → correct → world
On a quest to fix the world map
- list 2 of 3Apple changes name of Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ in maps app
- list 3 of 3Google Maps renames Lake Ontario after Trump’s decree on ‘Lake America’
asserted
Maps → fix → America
The resolution, put forward by African Union (AU) member states and the Bahamas, was backed by a vote of 164-1 with six abstentions.
asserted
resolution → put → abstentions
Togo led the AU’s campaign to limit use of the widely-used Mercator map.
asserted
Togo → lead → map
Developed in the 16th century by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator, the projection distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those nearer the poles.
asserted
projection → develop → poles
For instance, it makes Greenland appear roughly the same size as Africa, even though Africa is about 14 times larger.
asserted
Africa → make → Africa
Some critics of the Mercator map believe it remains widely used because it visually exaggerates and centralises Western nations, perpetuating ideas of European superiority.
asserted
it → believe → superiority
“A fair world begins with a fair map,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told the Reuters news agency ahead of Friday’s vote.
asserted
Dussey → begin → vote
The resolution promotes the Equal Earth projection, which more accurately portrays the size of the continents.
asserted
which → promote → continents
The resolution is not legally binding and it “in no way challenges the use of the Mercator projection for maritime and aerial navigation, for which it remains fully suited,” the Togolese ministry said in a statement.
asserted
ministry → challenge → statement
The United States – the only country to vote against the resolution – said it promoted an “ideological agenda” and was a distraction from the “genuine problems of international peace, prosperity or good relations”.
asserted
it → vote → peace
Moky Makura, executive director of the advocacy organisation Africa No Filter that’s involved in “Correct the World” map campaign, hailed the vote, saying “now the real work begins”.
asserted
work → involve → vote
“We want to see accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, businesses and on the digital platforms billions of people use every day,” Makura said in a statement.
asserted
Makura → want → statement
“If we got something as basic as Africa’s size wrong for this long, what else about Africa have we simply accepted without questioning?
asserted
we → get → Africa
Africa doesn’t need to be made bigger.
asserted
Africa → need → ?
It needs to be seen accurately,” she added.
asserted
she → need → ?
‘Distortions eventually take root in perceptions’
asserted
Distortions → take → perceptions
Ahead of the vote, France, who co-sponsored the resolution, announced that it planned to abandon the Mercator map.
asserted
it → co → map
The foreign ministry “will abandon the Mercator projection in favour of map representations tailored to specific uses, more faithful to actual surface areas and in line with the recommendations of cartographers and scientists”, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
“The United States, Russia and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America or southeast Asia,” Barrot said, adding that “distortions eventually take root in perceptions” and that “the time has come to correct them.”
asserted
time → abandon → them
The Mercator map remains widely used in classrooms, but Togo hopes to change its school geography materials by the end of the year
asserted
Togo → use → year
, Dussey told Reuters.
asserted
Dussey → tell → Reuters
Togo will press other governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies to move away from the Mercator map in favour of the Equal Earth one, Dussey said.
asserted
Dussey → press → one
Dussey linked the campaign to adopt the map to wider African efforts to confront colonial-era legacies, while saying it was not an attack on Europe or any other civilisation.
The Mercator map’s widespread use is a consequence of colonisation, he said.
asserted
he → link → colonisation
“The world is changing.
asserted
world → change → ?
Africa also is changing.”
asserted
Africa → change → ?
The Aporia
