How big is Africa really? Why the UN voted to change the world map
The United Nations General Assembly has voted to adopt a new map projection, Equal Earth, which more accurately represents the true sizes of continental landmasses, particularly Africa, challenging the centuries-old Mercator projection.
Intelligence analysis by Gemini 2.5 Flash
The UN General Assembly, led by African nations, passed a resolution encouraging member states to use the Equal Earth projection, which corrects the size distortions of the traditional Mercator map. The Mercator projection, designed for navigation, inflated northern regions and shrunk equatorial ones, making continents like Africa appear smaller than their actual vast size, a distorti…
Imagine you have a big, round orange, and you want to draw it flat on a piece of paper. If you try to peel the orange and lay it flat, some parts will stretch out and look much bigger than they really are, especially near the top and bottom. Old world maps did something similar, making countries near the top look huge and places like Africa look smaller than they truly are. The UN just voted to use a new map that's like a better way to flatten the orange, so all the countries look their real size, especially Africa, which is actually super big!
Analysis
Mercator Projection
For centuries, the Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, has been the default world map. While revolutionary for maritime navigation due to its accurate depiction of shapes and angles, it inherently distorted the relative sizes of landmasses. This distortion was a consequence of translating a three-dimensional globe onto a two-dimensional surface, leading to an inflation of regions closer to the poles and a compression of those near the equator.
This cartographic choice resulted in Europe and North America appearing disproportionately large, while continents like Africa and South America were visually diminished. For instance, on a Mercator map, Greenland often looks comparable in size to Africa, despite Africa being approximately 14 times larger. This long-standing visual bias has subtly influenced global perceptions of continental scale and geopolitical significance, often without conscious awareness.
Equal Earth
The United Nations General Assembly's recent resolution advocates for the adoption of the Equal Earth cartographic projection, a modern alternative launched in 2018. Developed by cartographers Bojan Savric, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny, Equal Earth specifically addresses the size distortions inherent in the Mercator map. Its primary design principle is to preserve the relative surface areas of continents, ensuring that their sizes are accurately represented in proportion to one another.
This new projection aims to show continents' shapes as closely as possible to how they appear on a globe, while maintaining accurate area relationships. By encouraging its use, the UN seeks to foster a more truthful and equitable visual understanding of the world's geography. Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey emphasized that maps guide education and influence collective perceptions, highlighting the importance of this shift in reaffirming "African reality" by showcasing the continent's true immense scale.
United States
The resolution to adopt the Equal Earth map received overwhelming support from 164 countries, with France notably co-sponsoring the initiative and announcing its abandonment of the Mercator projection. However, the United States stood out as the sole country to vote against the resolution, with six other nations abstaining. US representative Yaryna Ferencevych voiced strong opposition, stating that the resolution caused the institution to lose credibility.
Ferencevych argued that the UN should focus on "genuine problems" rather than debating "map projects from the 16th century." This stance underscores a potential resistance to changing deeply ingrained cartographic traditions and the perceived priorities of international bodies. While the UN resolution is non-binding, the US objection highlights the challenges in achieving universal consensus on even seemingly straightforward issues like geographical representation, suggesting that the transition away from the Mercator projection may face continued, albeit limited, resistance.
Key points
- The UN General Assembly voted to adopt the Equal Earth cartographic projection for a more accurate representation of continental landmasses.
- The traditional Mercator projection, designed in 1569 for navigation, distorted sizes, making northern regions appear larger and equatorial regions smaller.
- Africa, which is large enough to contain the US, China, India, and most of Europe, appears roughly the same size as Greenland on Mercator maps, despite being 14 times larger.
- The Equal Earth map, launched in 2018, preserves the relative surface areas of continents while showing their shapes as they appear on a globe.
- 164 countries supported the resolution, with the United States voting against it, citing concerns about the UN's focus on "map projects from the 16th century."
The widespread adoption of the Equal Earth map could lead to a more accurate and equitable global understanding, challenging historical biases in education and public perception. This shift may foster greater appreciation for the true scale and significance of continents like Africa, potentially influencing international relations and development efforts positively.
Despite the UN resolution, its non-binding nature means that widespread adoption is not guaranteed, and resistance from countries like the United States suggests that entrenched cartographic traditions may persist. This could limit the resolution's intended impact on global perceptions and educational materials, hindering a truly universal shift in how the world is visually represented.
