UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

ByThomas Mukhwana, Africa correspondent and Wycliffe Muia. Updated 4 minutes ago.

Key points

• Online campaign group #CorrectTheMap remarked: "You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare."
• The Mercator map was designed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to support European explorers navigate throughout the world.
• Ahead of Friday's vote, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey informed the Reuters news agency: "A fair world begins with a fair map."
• The "Correct the Map" resolution, by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, passed with the backing of 164 nations, including France and the UK.
• 'This star is for Africa' – Angélique Kidjo on making Hollywood Walk of Fame history.

In practice, the UN General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of Africa.

In practice, the "Correct the Map" resolution, by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, passed with the backing of 164 nations, including France and the UK. The United States was the only nation to vote against it – and there were six abstentions.

For context, the UN vote is non-binding but will see changes to the maps applied by institutions worldwide.

For context, the Mercator map, which has been in common employ since the 16th Century, has come in for criticism as it indicates Africa as similar in size to Greenland, even though it is 14 times larger.

Critics say this leads to the development needs and potential for countries near the equator to be minimised. US admits 'unfortunate error' after mislabelling countries on map of Africa.

Notably, the Mercator map was designed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to support European explorers navigate throughout the world.

For context, the distortion of his map is a result of the fact that it is impossible to accurately represent the surface of a globe on a two-dimensional chart.

Whenever a map of the world is drawn, compromises need to be created.

Meanwhile, the Mercator map demonstrates the curvature of the Earth by making countries near the equator seem smaller than they are, with countries nearer the poles appearing bigger.

In a bid to correct this, a team of cartographers in 2018 created an equal area map they called the Equal Earth projection.

In February, the AU's 54 member states adopted it, and remarked it "more accurately represents the sizes of all continents, particularly Africa".

Earlier he had informed a UN briefing: "A map is never neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood."

He had the backing of the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. This person remarked his ministry was going to stop using the Mercator map, external.

"Changing the map obviously doesn't change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth, " he remarked.

But Yaryna Ferencevych, a US representative at the UN, remarked the resolution mocked the work and purpose of the UN General Assembly, external.

"Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th Century, and their role in promoting reparations and 'cognitive justice', " she remarked.

In March, the US was additionally critical when a resolution was adopted declaring the transatlantic slave trade "the gravest crime against humanity".

"Africa's misrepresentation on world maps is not just a cartographic error – it's a narrative issue, " Lerato Mogoatlhe from Africa No Filter, one of the groups behind the campaign to ditch the Mercator map, informed the BBC.

It was part of efforts to stop the "world's longest misinformation and disinformation" regarding Africa, she stated.

For Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo, the Mercator map has implicitly downplayed the African continent's vast resources, population and investment opportunities.

"Maps are more than just guides for travellers – they shape how regions are perceived politically and economically, " he informed the BBC. More BBC news from Africa.

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Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

For now, UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa' s true size remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.