Australia and Africa expand, North America and Europe shrink: UN adopts new world map

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Michalska, A. (2026, September 5). Australia and Africa expand, North America and Europe shrink: UN adopts new world map. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/africa/australia-and-africa-expand-north-america-and-europe-shrink-un-adopts-new-world-map-20260905-p60uo3.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-09-05 · by Aleksandra Michalska

Quick Summary

The United Nations has voted to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects countries' true size, shifting away from the 16th-century Mercator map. The resolution, sponsored by African states, passed with 164 votes in favor and 1 against, with some critics arguing that the Mercator map creates a subtle bias towards northern nations. Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland, which appears roughly the same size on the Mercator map. Togo's foreign minister, Robert Dussey, said the new map, known as Equal Earth, "provides the best perception" of the world and aims to counter perceptions that Africa is peripheral.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-05, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

September 4th, 164 countries, including France and the UK, voted in favor of a resolution at the UN General Assembly to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects the size of Africa. Only the US voted against it, with six other states abstaining. The new map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, aims to provide a more accurate representation of continental landmasses and reduce distortions caused by the traditional Mercator projection, which has been widely used since the 16th century. According to Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, "a fair world begins with a fair map," highlighting the importance of cartography in shaping our understanding of the world. The resolution promotes the use of the Equal Earth projection over the Mercator projection, which distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those nearer the poles, making Greenland appear roughly the same size as Africa, although Africa is about 14 times larger.

Written for “UN Adopts New World Map” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 UN Adopts New World Map
World · 25 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
United Nations adopt new world map that shows Africa much bigger and cuts size of UK and US same event · 100%
Daily Mail · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 23 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles report on the United Nations' adoption of a new world map on the same day and describe the same resolution.”
UN approves resolution in support of map that shows Africa's true size same event · 100%
The Straits Times · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 18 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the exact same UN resolution and voting outcome on September 4, 2026”
U.N. approves resolution in support of map that shows Africa’s true size same event · 100%
The Hindu · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 17 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on the exact same UN resolution, with identical language and content, indicating they describe the same specific event.”
UN adopts new map: Africa bigger, North America and Europe smaller same event · 100%
South China Morning Post · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 6 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles report on the UN's vote to adopt a new map, with Africa being made bigger and North America and Europe smaller, on September 4, 2026.”
UN votes to adopt new world map that shows Africa’s true scale same event · 100%
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 31 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on the exact same UN resolution voting to adopt a new world map, with identical details and dates.”
UN adopts new world map showing true scale of continents; only US votes against it same event · 100%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 19 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on the UN General Assembly's vote to adopt a new world map, with identical details about the resolution and its outcome.”
UN adopts major map reform to show true scale of continents same event · 100%
Dawn
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 17 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe the UN adopting a new world map resolution, backed by 164 countries, with the US voting against and several other states abstaining.”
UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size same event · 100%
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 26 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe the UN General Assembly voting to adopt a new world map that accurately reflects Africa's size, with similar details about the resolution and the outcome.”
Africa bigger, US smaller as UN votes to adopt a new world map same event · 100%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 21 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles report on the United Nations voting to adopt a new world map, specifically the Equal Earth cartographic projection, which makes Africa larger and North America/Europe smaller, with identical outcome (164 states in favor, 6 abstaining, US against) at the same specific time.”
The U.N. backs a new world map showing Africa in its true relative size same event · 100%
NPR
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 29 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on the exact same UN vote and resolution, with identical details about the countries involved, the vote outcome, and the map distortion issue”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
26
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 26 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
25
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Aleksandra Michalska
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Togo will be the first country to change our own geography books,” Dussey said.
2026-09-05 · assertive framing · Australia and Africa expand, North America and Europe shrink: UN adopts new world map
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

African Union Dussey Mercator New York Togo

Subjects

Togo GPE · 6× Dussey PERSON · 5× Mercator ORG · 5× African NORP · 2× African Union ORG · 2× Reuters ORG · 2× New York GPE · 1× Northern NORP · 1× Robert Dussey PERSON · 1× The United Nations ORG · 1×

Narrative

The United Nations has voted to shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting countries’ true size, a resolution sponsored by African states to counter perceptions that the continent is peripheral.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-05
🔮 “Togo will be the first country to change our own geography books,” Dussey said.
2026-09-05 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Australia and Africa expand, North America and Europe shrink: UN adopts new world map · assertive framing

Claims (26 extracted, 0 hedged)

The United Nations has voted to shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting countries’ true size, a resolution sponsored by African states to counter perceptions that the continent is peripheral. asserted
continent → vote → perceptions
Togo led the initiative to further the African Union campaign to limit use of the Mercator map, which distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those nearer the poles. asserted
which → lead → poles
It makes Greenland appear roughly the same size as Africa, though Africa is about 14 times larger. asserted
Africa → make → Africa
Some critics say the Mercator map creates a subtle bias: Northern nations – including some of the wealthiest – appear large, while equatorial regions with mostly developing countries are depicted as small. asserted
regions → say → countries
They argue it reinforces a colonial worldview. asserted
it → argue → worldview
“A fair world begins with a fair map,” Togo’s foreign minister, Robert Dussey, said ahead of the vote. asserted
minister → begin → vote
The resolution promotes the Equal Earth projection, which more accurately portrays the size of the continents. asserted
which → promote → continents
While Africa and Australia, for example, appear bigger, North America and Europe look smaller. asserted
America → appear → example
It 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 resolution passed in the UN General Assembly on Friday (US time) by a vote of 164 to 1, with 6 abstentions. asserted
resolution → pass → abstentions
The US, 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
The Mercator map – designed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 to help seafarers navigate the world – was made by projecting the Earth’s features on to a cylinder, then flattening that image into a rectangle. asserted
seafarers → design → rectangle
It was important for sailors because any straight line drawn on the map represented a compass direction. asserted
line → draw → direction
Equal Earth – created by cartographers Bojan Savric, Bernhard Jenny and Tom Patterson in 2018 – sacrifices that to show landmasses in correct proportions. asserted
Earth → create → proportions
The Mercator projection map is widely used in books and online services such as Google Maps, The New York Times reported. asserted
Times → use → Maps
It is also common in classrooms, but Togo hopes to change its school geography materials by the end of the year, Dussey told Reuters. asserted
Dussey → hop → Reuters
“Togo will be the first country to change our own geography books,” Dussey said. asserted
Dussey → change → books
“In the classroom, we need to change it to give an example to all the countries in the world. asserted
we → need → world
Togo will press other governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies to move away from the centuries-old Mercator projection, Dussey said, adding that Equal Earth offers “the best perception” of the world. asserted
Earth → press → world
Togo plans to meet African Union member states and supporters from other regions within the next six months to agree on how to promote wider adoption, Dussey said. asserted
Dussey → plan → adoption
He said the discussion about next steps would need to include companies operating mapping, GPS and other location-based technologies. asserted
discussion → say → mapping
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. asserted
it → link → Europe
The Mercator map’s widespread use was a consequence of colonisation, he said. asserted
he → say → colonisation
“The world is changing. asserted
world → change → ?
Africa also is changing.” asserted
Africa → change → ?
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. asserted
what → get → world
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