The UN General Assembly has voted in favor of a resolution sponsored by Togo to replace traditional world maps with more accurate representations of nations' sizes. The "Correct the Map" resolution passed with 164 votes in support and was opposed by only the US, with six other countries abstaining. The resolution encourages governments, schools, and companies to use maps that accurately depict Africa's size, which is currently exaggerated in traditional Mercator maps. A petition campaign calling for the change had gathered over 11,000 signatures ahead of the vote, citing concerns about "cartographic colonialism" and the need for more accurate representations of global regions.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On September *, the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt a new world map that more accurately represents the size of Africa and other continents. The resolution was sponsored by several African countries, led by Togo, which aims to counter the perception that Africa is peripheral. The new map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, shows Africa as 14 times larger than Greenland, rather than being roughly the same size as in the traditional Mercator map.
164 countries, including France and the UK, voted in favor of the resolution, while the US was the only country to vote against it. Six other countries abstained from the vote. The resolution is non-binding, but is expected to lead to changes in maps used by institutions around the world, including education and technology.
The traditional Mercator map has been widely criticized for its inaccurate representation of continental landmasses, with Africa often appearing smaller than it actually is. This has led to a distorted view of the continent's development needs and potential. The new Equal Earth projection aims to provide a more accurate representation of the world, and to promote "cognitive justice" by acknowledging the true size and importance of Africa and other continents.
Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said that maps "guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions", and that they should be used to promote an accurate understanding of the world. The resolution also notes that the Mercator map is no longer suitable for modern navigation needs, and that alternative projections like the Equal Earth projection are more accurate.
The adoption of the new map is expected to have a significant impact on how Africa and other continents are represented in education, technology, and international relations. It is seen as a major step towards promoting greater understanding and cooperation between countries, particularly those near the equator.
Written for “UN Adopts New World Map” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 22 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but none of the 3 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 6139: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-07
The UN general assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of all nations.
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that → vote → nations
The approved resolution calls for the world to move away from the traditional Mercator map, which shrinks the size of Africa and exaggerates northern landmasses.
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which → approve → landmasses
The "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by Togo, passed with the support of 164 nations, including the UK.
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resolution → correct → UK
The US was the only nation to vote against it, with six other abstentions.
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US → vote → abstentions
The resolution is non-binding, but asks governments, schools, international organisations, and technology companies to adopt the Equal Earth projection and other equal-area maps wherever the true scale of continents matters, with the aim of establishing more proportionally accurate maps as a new global norm.
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scale → ask → norm
It does not seek to ban the Mercator projection outright.
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It → seek → projection
The Mercator projection, which is currently used worldwide, increases distortion the further a region sits from the equator.
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region → use → equator
Since Africa straddles the equator, it seems comparatively smaller than its actual size, while Europe, North America, Greenland, and Russia all appear substantially larger than they are.
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they → straddle → Europe
As a result, Africa, along with Latin America, India and other equatorial regions, appear much smaller relative to northern countries than their true area.
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Africa → appear → area
The map, for example, depicts Africa as similar in size to Greenland, despite the continent being 14 times larger than the Danish territory.
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continent → depict → territory
In a briefing to the African Group at the UN this week, Togo's foreign minister Robert Dussey said the importance of the issue went beyond geography.
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importance → say → geography
"A map is never neutral," Mr Dussey reasoned.
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Dussey → reason → ?
“It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood, and may, sometimes from the earliest years of schooling, perpetuate representations that do not correspond to geographic reality."
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that → shape → reality
"Africa is not asking for preferential treatment," he said.
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he → ask → treatment
"Africa is asking that its reality, aspirations and contribution to the international system be duly taken into account.
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reality → ask → account
"I'm an academic before a politician," Mr Dussey said.
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Dussey → say → politician
"As an academic, I say we have to have as large a consensus as possible, because we are here at the UN, we never know.”
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we → say → UN
A petition on the fundraising platform Change for the campaign, called #CorrectTheMap, had gathered around 11,000 signatures ahead of the vote.
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petition → call → vote
The African Union endorsed the campaign in August 2025 and asked Togo to lead the push for its adoption at the UN.
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Union → endorse → UN
“As Africa becomes increasingly central to solving global challenges,” the petition says, “it is critical to represent its true scale.”
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it → become → scale
Historians and geographers have long argued that the Mercator map reflects Western assumptions about the world, and some campaigners have used the term "cartographic colonialism" to denounce what they have described as its negative effects.
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they → argue → effects
German historian Arno Peters was one of the most prominent critics of the projection, launching an alternative map based on the Gall-Peters projection in 1973.
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Peters → launch → 1973
Togo's campaign is instead promoting the 2018 Equal Earth map, developed by an international team of cartographers, which supporters say offers a more accurate representation of the size of every continent.
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supporters → promote → continent
Mr Dussey connected the map campaign to another African Union-backed resolution passed at the UN in March which described the transatlantic slave trade as the "gravest crime against humanity" and was approved by 123 states, with three against and 52 abstentions.
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which → connect → three
Togo's government is now set to hold an event in the capital, Lomé, with Unesco, the African Union, and technology companies including Google Maps in the first quarter of next year to work out how the change may be implemented.
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change → set → year
