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NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) – The United Nations on Friday voted to shift away from the 16th-century Mercator world map toward a projection that more accurately reflects the true size of countries, in a resolution sponsored by African states seeking to counter perceptions that the continent is peripheral.
Togo led the initiative as part of a broader African Union campaign to limit the use of the Mercator map, which distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those closer to the poles. It makes Greenland appear roughly the same size as Africa, even though Africa is about 14 times larger.
“A fair world begins with a fair map,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told Reuters ahead of Friday’s vote.
The resolution promotes the Equal Earth projection, which more accurately represents the relative size of the world’s continents.
The resolution is not legally binding and “in no way challenges the use of the Mercator projection for maritime and aerial navigation, for which it remains fully suited,” the Togolese ministry said in a statement.
The resolution passed in the U.N. General Assembly by a vote of 164 to 1, with six abstentions.
The United States, the only country to vote against the resolution, said it promoted an “ideological agenda” and was a distraction from the “genuine problems of international peace, prosperity or good relations.”
TOGO TO CHANGE MAPS IN SCHOOLS THIS YEAR, MINISTER SAYS
The Mercator map remains widely used in classrooms, but Togo hopes to replace it in its school geography materials by the end of the year, Dussey told Reuters.
“Togo will be the first country to change our own geography books,” Dussey said. “In the classroom, we need to change it to give an example to all the countries in the world.”
Togo will press other governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies to move away from the centuries-old Mercator projection, Dussey said, adding that Equal Earth offers “the best perception” of the world.
Togo plans to meet with African Union member states and supporters from other regions within the next six months to agree on ways to promote wider adoption of the projection, Dussey said.
The discussion about next steps would also need to include companies operating mapping, GPS and other location-based technologies, Dussey said.
Dussey linked the campaign to adopt the map to broader African efforts to confront colonial-era legacies, while stressing that it was not an attack on Europe or any other civilisation.
The widespread use of the Mercator map is a consequence of colonisation, he said.
“The world is changing. Africa also is changing,” Dussey added. — Reuters
