World

UN Adopts New World Map

4 Sep to 11 Sep
15 outlets

Each outlet's article on this story, most articles first

25 articles
19 reporters
By day

Articles per day

4 Sep: 11 articles5 Sep: 4 articles6 Sep: 8 articles11 Sep: 2 articles4 Sep11 Sep
Save
Cite

UN Adopts New World Map. (2026, October 5). The Aporia. https://the-aporia.com/event/3660

Dated the day this page was built. The link always leads to this event, even after the stories are regrouped.

Sources (CSV) · Sources (JSON)

Photo via The GuardianPhoto via Al JazeeraPhoto via The Independent

NEW YORK - The United Nations General Assembly voted on Sept 4 to adopt a new world map that makes the African continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe, drawing ire from Washington.

Summary AI · cited

The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to adopt a resolution for a new map that makes Africa bigger while shrinking North America and Europe.12

The resolution was supported by 164 countries, with the US voting against it and six other states abstaining.12

The new map is known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection and aims to provide a more accurate representation of continental landmasses.13

The resolution 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 1569.32

Togo's foreign minister stated that maps shape our understanding of the world and drove the resolution to correct this representation.2

Written by AI from articles by 5 outlets. Each sentence links to the articles it rests on, and was checked automatically: every name, number and quote must appear in the sentences it cites, or it is removed.

Sources cited (5)
  1. UN adopts new map: Africa bigger, North America and Europe smaller South China Morning Post, 4 Sep
  2. UN adopts major map reform to show true scale of continents Dawn, 4 Sep
  3. UN adopts new world map showing true scale of continents; only US votes against it The Straits Times, 4 Sep
  4. Japan, India, Ukraine: Why some countries are uneasy about new UN map Al Jazeera, 11 Sep
  5. UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size BBC, 4 Sep

What happened

The outlets' own sentences, most widely reported first. Hover one for who reported it.

The new map — known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection — “offers a more accurate representation of the sizes of continental landmasses and to this end is a relevant option for improving the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world,” the resolution says.

9 of 15 outletsfirst reported 4 Sepwording from Dawn

The Mercator projection was developed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to assist European navigators at sea.

8 of 15 outletsfirst reported 4 Sepwording from Times of India

The Mercator projection makes Greenland and Africa appear about the same size, even though Africa is in reality about 14 times larger.

7 of 15 outletsfirst reported 4 Sepwording from Daily Mail

The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution, while six countries — Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine — abstained.

9 of 15 outletsfirst reported 4 Sepwording from Times of India

Analysis

Agreed

Reported by outlets on both sides of the middle

“Maps shape our understanding of the world,” Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey was quoted by the UN as saying ahead of the vote.

9 outlets
Show 3 more

The "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, passed with the support of 164 nations, including France and the UK.

6 outlets

France – which co-sponsored the resolution in support of the new map – announced on Sept 4 that it would abandon the Mercator projection.

5 outlets

“They are therefore never neutral, when they present a distorted image of our planet, they risk perpetuating inaccurate representation that are passed down through generation.”

4 outlets

Disputed

Picked by our model, which is sometimes wrong

  • The US representative criticized the resolution as a reason for the UN losing credibility, whereas other countries supported it.45

Framing

How the first headlines put it

  • South China Morning Post and The Straits Times emphasize that Africa is shown larger while North America and Europe are smaller in the new map.13
Stated as fact12

How it changed

  1. 4 Sep

    NEW YORK - The United Nations General Assembly voted on Sept 4 to adopt a new world map that makes the African continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe, drawing ire from Washington.

    14 outlets · The Straits Times
  2. 5 Sep

    Africa No Filter, one of the leading groups behind the campaign to promote the new map, welcomed the resolution and called for more widespread use of accurate maps.

    3 outlets · Times of India
  3. 6 Sep

    The UN said it does not ban Mercator or impose a replacement, but simply encourages wider use of the Equal Earth projection.

    3 outlets · Al Jazeera
  4. 11 Sep

    In August this year, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin paid his first-ever visit to the islands, drawing condemnation from Japan.

    2 outlets · Al Jazeera

Coverage 25 articles

Show all 25 articles

Built 2026-10-05 from 25 articles. Every sentence on this page is quoted from the linked article; nothing was written by a model except the Summary and the items marked AI, which cite their sources, and the questions and labels under "Disputed". Photos are from the outlets that covered the story, never from articles our check marks sensitive.

💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 21 Oct 2026