The UN General Assembly voted 164-0 (with six abstentions) on Friday to adopt a new world map called the Equal Earth cartographic projection, which makes Africa larger and North America and Europe smaller. The resolution aims to provide a more accurate representation of continental landmasses, replacing the traditional Mercator projection that was designed in 1569 for maritime navigation. France co-sponsored the resolution and announced it will abandon the Mercator projection, while the US voted against it. The Equal Earth projection was launched by a group of cartographers in 2018 to correct the distortions of the Mercator map, which inflates northern regions and compresses equatorial ones.
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Leaning score -0.35 for article 4425 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-05
The United Nations General Assembly voted Friday to adopt a new world map that makes the African continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe, drawing ire from Washington.
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continent → vote → Washington
Aimed at “a more accurate representation” of continental landmasses, the resolution was supported by 164 countries while the United States voted against it and six other states abstained.
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states → aim → it
The new map — known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection — improves “the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world,” the resolution said.
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resolution → know → world
It urges member states to use the new map in place of the traditional Mercator projection, which was designed for maritime navigation by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
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which → urge → 1569
Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, which sponsored the resolution, said maps “guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”
“They are therefore never neutral; when they present a distorted image of our planet, they risk perpetuating inaccurate representation that is passed down through generations.”
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that → sponsor → generations
The United States however slammed the resolution, saying such moves are “the reason this institution is losing its credibility.”
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institution → slam → credibility
“Instead of focusing on genuine problems… this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice,” U.S. representative Yaryna Ferencevych said ahead of the vote.
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Ferencevych → focus → vote
The Mercator projection focused on accurate depictions of the shapes and angles of land masses, but their relative sizes were often inaccurate — largely due to the challenge of rendering a three-dimensional globe onto a two-dimensional map.
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sizes → focus → map
It inflated northern regions and compressed equatorial ones, making Europe and North America appear much larger, while shrinking Africa and South America.
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Europe → inflate → Africa
A group of cartographers launched the Equal Earth projection in 2018.
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group → launch → 2018
It makes Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania appear much larger.
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Africa → make → ?
“Equal Earth preserves the relative surface areas of continents and, as much as possible, shows their shapes as they appear on a globe,” one of the cartographers, Bojan Savric, told AFP in 2025.
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one → preserve → 2025
France — which co-sponsored the resolution in support of the new map — announced Friday that it would abandon the Mercator projection.
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it → co → projection
In that map, “the United States, Russia and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America or southeast Asia,” while “Greenland appears almost as big as Africa,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.
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Barrot → take → Africa
“Changing maps obviously doesn’t change the world,” he said.
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he → change → world
“But correcting a distorted representation is already an act of truth.”
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correcting → correct → truth
The initiative comes as France is seeking to improve relations with Africa, particularly in former colonies with which it has prickly ties.
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it → come → ties
