UN Calls for New World Map Adoption
The United Nations has officially voted to adopt a resolution advocating for the abandonment of the traditional world map based on the 16th-century Mercator projection. This decision aims to promote more accurate cartographic representations, particularly those that correctly depict the true scale of Africa and other global regions.
The UN General Assembly in New York approved the shift towards maps utilizing the Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018. A total of 164 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while the United States opposed it, deeming the initiative “unnecessary.” Six nations abstained.
Impact of the New World Map
While UN resolutions are not legally binding, and the use of older projections will not be prohibited, this decision is expected to drive changes in educational curricula and everyday technologies. The Mercator projection is widely prevalent in schooling, digital technologies, and government administration, and its replacement could significantly alter geographical perception.
Togo, which spearheaded the campaign on behalf of the African Union, emphasized that disproportionate cartographic representations resulting from the Mercator projection have led to long-term cognitive, educational, cultural, geopolitical, and socioeconomic consequences. These distortions have contributed to a diminished perceived size of Africa and other territories in the global collective consciousness.
Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, stated before the vote that this was not a political but a scientific discussion, based on evidence that necessitates accepting a new reality. France has already announced its intention to follow the UN’s recommendations.
I’ve been using the Equal Earth projection on my personal GIS projects for a while now, and the difference in how I perceive continent sizes is striking. Mercator always made Africa look so much smaller than it is. The switch is great for education, but I’ve found that some older mapping libraries still struggle with it, often requiring manual adjustments for accurate data overlays. My tip would be to always double-check your coordinate system transformations when migrating existing data to Equal Earth.