The Guardian
· collected 2026-09-11 · by Agence France-Presse in Tokyo
Japan has asked the operator of a new UN world map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, to revise the map because it incorrectly shows the Kuril islands belonging to Russia. The disputed islands are also known in Japan as the Northern Territories and have been at the center of a long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia. 164 UN members voted to adopt the new map on Friday, but it has drawn criticism for its depiction of the African continent larger while shrinking North America and Europe. Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara lodged a protest with the map operator through diplomatic channels to demand correction.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
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 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, 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 7992: attributed speech only · logged 2026-09-11
Japan has asked for the revision of a new world map adopted by the UN because it said it made the disputed Kuril islands appear to belong to Russia.
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islands → ask → Russia
The UN general assembly voted on Friday to adopt the new map, which makes the African continent larger while also shrinking North America and Europe, drawing condemnation from the US.
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continent → vote → US
Japan was among the 164 UN members that supported the resolution, but has now taken issue with it because it shows the Kurils, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, in the same colour as Russia.
Ukraine last week abstained in the UN vote on the map as it showed occupied Crimea in a different colour to the rest of the country, which its representatives at the UN warned opens a “Pandora’s box” violating the UN charter and international law.
Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara on Thursday said the new map – known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection – “contained a depiction contradicting the Japanese government’s position”.
“We lodged a protest with the map site’s operator through our diplomatic channel to demand the correction of this depiction,” Kihara told reporters.
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Kihara → support → reporters
He declined to say when the issue was brought to government’s attention but said Japan “needs to prevent misconceptions of our territories and geographical names from spreading”.
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Japan → decline → territories
The disputed islands were seized in 1945 by the former Soviet Union, which then expelled the Japanese population.
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which → dispute → population
Relations between Japan and Russia soured significantly last month, when the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, made a surprise visit to the disputed islands for the first time.
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president → sour → time
Japan swiftly summoned Moscow’s ambassador, with the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying Putin’s visit “offends the sentiments of the Japanese people”, adding that it was “absolutely unacceptable”.
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it → summon → people
She said the islands were “an inherent part of Japan’s territory, both historically and under international law”.
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islands → say → law
Moscow quickly hit back, saying it “categorically” rejects such statements, “which we consider politically inappropriate, insulting and, of course, legally unfounded”.
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we → hit → course
The UN said the new map aimed to present “a more accurate representation” of continental landmasses than was portrayed by more traditional Mercator projections.
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map → say → projections
Ukraine was last week among six countries that abstained in the vote.
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that → abstain → vote
