The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution endorsing a new world map designed to display the true relative sizes of continents and landmasses. Titled "Correct the Map," the resolution was sponsored by Togo with the support of the African Union and passed with 164 votes in favor. The United States cast the sole opposing vote, while six nations—Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine—abstained from the voting process.
The resolution encourages governments, educational institutions, media organizations, and technology companies to transition to the Equal Earth cartographic projection. Developed in 2018, this projection corrects long-standing visual distortions inherent in the traditional Mercator map projection, which was designed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 for maritime navigation. Under the Mercator model, landmasses closer to the poles are heavily exaggerated, making Greenland appear roughly equal in area to Africa, even though Africa is actually fourteen times larger.
Proponents of the measure, led by Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, emphasized that cartographic representations influence educational outcomes, cultural perceptions, and global policies. Campaigners described the traditional projection as a legacy of colonial-era cartography that symbolically minimized Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. India voted in favor of the resolution, supporting the adoption of equal-area projections to promote balanced geographical awareness. Opposing the motion, the United States criticized the Assembly for focusing on historical map projections rather than pressing geopolitical issues. The resolution encourages the adoption of equal-area mapping wherever spatial accuracy matters, marking a major shift in official global cartography.
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