06.09.2026The UN General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional Mercator world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of Africa. (Image courtesy of Ray Rui)
The UN General Assembly has backed a resolution to change to maps that more accurately show the true size of Africa. Supporters of the resolution say the widely used, and centuries-old, Mercator world map distorts the size of countries, thereby changing how they are seen. pic.twitter.com/NI6oDPyrWx
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 5, 2026
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. The US was the only nation to vote against it – while there were six abstentions.
UN votes to adopt new world map showing Africa's true size https://t.co/XAykyjb9y1
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 4, 2026
The Mercator map was designed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to help European explorers navigate across the world.
🇺🇳UN has officially adopted a new World map, the so-called Equal Earth design, which is letting go with the centuries-old Mercator projection in favour of a more accurate depiction of the size of each major separate part of the globe.
In this new map, Africa and Southern… pic.twitter.com/LnNwgrvHPn
— Dovydas Vitkauskas (@Dovydas44444) September 5, 2026
The distortion of his map is a result of the fact that it is impossible to accurately represent the surface of a globe on a two-dimensional chart.
The UN vote is non-binding but will see changes to the maps used by institutions around the world.
The Mercator map, which has been in common use since the 16th Century, has come in for criticism as it shows Africa as being of similar in size to Greenland, even though it is actually 14 times larger.
Critics say this leads to the development needs and potential for countries near the equator to be minimised.