UN General Assembly Votes to Adopt Equal Earth Map Projection
- The United Nations General Assembly voted 164 to 1 on Friday to adopt a resolution promoting the Equal Earth projection map, a measure designed to correct the century-old...
- Led by Togo on behalf of the African Group and backed by the African Union, the initiative targets a cartographic standard established in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator.
- The United States stood alone in voting against the resolution on Friday, with U.S.
The United Nations General Assembly voted 164 to 1 on Friday to adopt a resolution promoting the Equal Earth projection map, a measure designed to correct the century-old visual distortion of the Mercator map that shrinks Africa and expands North America and Europe.
Led by Togo on behalf of the African Group and backed by the African Union, the initiative targets a cartographic standard established in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. Because flat maps cannot flatten a sphere without stretching something, Mercator preserved straight navigational bearings for maritime trade at the expense of land area. As a result, landmasses farther from the equator appear drastically inflated. Greenland appears roughly the size of Africa on a traditional classroom map, even though Africa is actually about 14 times larger, according to reporting.
Global Votes and Diplomatic Divisions at the United Nations
The United States stood alone in voting against the resolution on Friday, with U.S. representative Yaryna Ferencevych dismissing the measure on the floor. According to reporting, Ferencevych called the resolution a radical ideological project and questioned the priorities of the international body.
Instead of focusing on genuine problems … this body is debating map projects from the 16th century.
Yaryna Ferencevych
In addition to the solitary U.S. vote against the measure, six nations abstained from the vote. Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine opted not to cast a supporting ballot. Despite the opposition, the measure easily cleared the 164-vote threshold required for adoption by the UN General Assembly.
Implementation Plans and Cartographic Impact
The resolution carries no enforcement mechanism and does not ban the Mercator projection, instead serving as a formal encouragement for global default maps to evolve. Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told the UN General Assembly that maps actively shape education, imagination, and collective perception, asserting that the new projection affirms African reality.
Practical steps to update digital and physical maps are already underway following the vote. The African Union officially adopted the Equal Earth projection in March. Furthermore, Togo is organizing a high-level meeting in Lome early next year to coordinate implementation with UNESCO, the African Union, and major technology companies including Google, according to reporting.