UN General Assembly Votes to Adopt Equal Earth Map to Correct Continental Distortions
23 sources across 16 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state
Who reported this
- Der Spiegel
- Deutsche Welle
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- elDiarioAR
- La Nacion
- G1
- Folha de S.Paulo
- Le Monde
- France 24
- Asahi Shimbun
- The Japan Times
- BBC News
- Reuters
- The Daily Star
- La Tercera
- South China Morning Post
- Tempo English
- NRC
- Aftenposten
- Dawn
- Al Jazeera
- El Pais
- Neue Zuercher Zeitung
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to adopt a resolution encouraging the use of the Equal Earth cartographic projection to more accurately represent the size of the world's continents. The resolution passed with 164 votes in favor, six abstentions, and one vote against. The United States was the only nation to vote against the measure. The initiative was spearheaded by Togo and supported by members of the African Union. The resolution urges member states, international organizations, and technology companies to move away from the traditional Mercator projection, which was designed in 1569 for maritime navigation. Critics of the Mercator map argue that it artificially enlarges landmasses near the poles while shrinking those near the equator, making Africa appear similar in size to Greenland when Africa is actually about 14 times larger. The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, aims to preserve the relative surface areas of continents. Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey stated that maps are never neutral and can influence collective perceptions and education. France co-sponsored the resolution and announced it would stop using the Mercator projection. The UN vote is non-binding and does not challenge the use of the Mercator projection for maritime or aerial navigation. The United States representative, Yaryna Ferencevych, criticized the resolution as a distraction from genuine problems of international peace and prosperity, describing it as part of an ideological agenda. Ukraine and Ireland also raised concerns regarding the representation of borders and territorial integrity in the new projection.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- These outlets emphasized the historical colonialist and eurocentric nature of the Mercator projection and framed the change as a matter of justice and dignity.
- Centre
- These outlets focused on the technical cartographic differences between the projections and the specific voting numbers.
- Centre-right
- These outlets highlighted the concerns of the United States and Ukraine, framing the resolution as an imposition of an ideological agenda or a potential risk to territorial sovereignty.
Sources
- Centre-right Aftenposten: UN advocates for new world map showing Africa's actual size
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: UN approves new map showing Africa’s true size
- Centre-left Asahi Shimbun: "Stop using Mercator projection world maps": UN resolution adopted, Japan also in favor
- Centre BBC News: UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size
- Centre-left Dawn: UN adopts major map reform to show true scale of continents
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Mercator projection: UN votes for reform of the distorted world map
- Centre Deutsche Welle: UN approves world map reflecting true size of Africa
- Centre-left El Pais: The UN adopts a new map of Africa more adjusted to real dimensions, in a non-binding resolution
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: UN approves new less distorted world map; only USA votes against
- Centre France 24: Africa, Latin America, and South Asia enlarged in the mapping promoted by the UN
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Reform of world maps: UN General Assembly votes for end of Mercator world map
- Centre-left G1: 'Radical ideological project': why the USA was the only country to vote against world map change to correct distortions at the UN
- Centre-left G1: Understand what changes on the world map after UN approves correction of distortions in continent dimensions
- Centre-right La Nacion: The UN abandons the Mercator projection and imposes a new map of the world to correct distortions
- Centre-right La Tercera: UN calls for abandoning the Mercator projection in favor of more "accurate" maps without cartographic distortions
- Centre-left Le Monde: « Mercator »: the UN encourages the abandonment of the projection for the use of a more realistic cartographic representation
- Centre NRC: UN assembly agrees to introduction of new world map that does depict Africa to scale
- Centre-right Neue Zuercher Zeitung: How big is Africa? A UN resolution demands a new world map
- Centre Reuters: UN approves resolution in support of map that shows Africa's true size - Reuters
- Centre-right South China Morning Post: UN adopts new map: Africa bigger, North America and Europe smaller
- Centre-left Tempo English: UN Approves World Map Reflecting True Size of Africa
- Centre The Daily Star: Africa bigger, US smaller - UN adopts new map
- Centre The Japan Times: Africa bigger and U.S. smaller: U.N. adopts new map
- Centre-left elDiarioAR: The UN General Assembly votes in favor of employing a new world map that reflects the real size of Africa
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