UN General Assembly adopts Equal Earth map projection in 164-1 vote

UN General Assembly vote

The United Nations General Assembly passed the "Correct the Map" resolution on 4 September 2026 to promote world map projections that accurately depict the physical surface area of continents. The diplomatic initiative, introduced by Togo with the formal backing of the African Union and co-sponsored by France, received 164 votes in favor, one against, and six abstentions. The abstaining countries were Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Morocco, Serbia, and Ukraine. The non-binding document urges national governments, international institutions, educational systems, and digital technology companies to adopt the Equal Earth projection instead of standard cylindrical models. The United States, under the administration of President Donald Trump, cast the sole opposing vote.

Correcting the Mercator distortion

The widely used Mercator projection was created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to assist maritime navigation. More than 450 years later, it remains the foundation for standard wall maps in schools, television broadcasts, and online services including Google Maps. As cartography professor James Cheshire at University College London explained, the original grid was constructed so that compass bearings could be plotted as straight lines across flat charts. Rendering a spherical planet onto a two-dimensional rectangular sheet forces grid lines to stretch wider toward the poles, inflating northern territories while compressing regions near the equator. Under Mercator maps, Greenland appears roughly equal in size to the African continent, even though Africa covers approximately 30.3 million square kilometres while Greenland measures roughly 2.2 million square kilometres.

He wanted a straight line to be drawn on a map to look like a straight line in reality if you followed a compass bearing. That was what it was intended to do, and that's what it does brilliantly well.

Visual perception and geopolitical representation

The UN resolution advocates transitioning to the Equal Earth projection, which a team of cartographers created in 2018 to preserve accurate relative landmass sizes without excessive shape distortion. On traditional maps, countries such as the United States, Canada, and Russia appear enlarged, whereas Africa, South America, and South Asia appear compressed. Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo noted that shrinking Africa on world maps has influenced perceptions of its economic importance, natural resources, and population. Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey presented the initiative to the assembly, arguing that cartographic representations influence how societies understand global balance and geographic reality.

Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.

Implementation and American dissent

Following the vote, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that France will transition its official cartography to the Equal Earth format. Togo confirmed plans to replace traditional maps across all national schools before the end of 2026. The new mapping format also accurately presents Latin America at roughly 20 million square kilometres, Oceania at 8.5 million square kilometres, and South Asia at 5.1 million square kilometres. In contrast, the United States expressed firm opposition during the session in New York. American representative Yaryna Ferencevych argued that the assembly should focus on immediate international security and economic matters rather than debating cartographic designs originating from the sixteenth century.

Resolutions like this, and the ideological agenda they promote, hinder the work of this institution and contribute to the loss of its credibility.