Overview

• The African Union endorsed the Correct the Map campaign, urging governments, institutions, and schools to stop using the Mercator projection in favor of area-accurate alternatives such as Equal Earth.
• Advocates argue Mercator enlarges high-latitude regions and shrinks equatorial landmasses, creating a false impression that diminishes Africa’s significance.
• Campaign organizers, including Speak Up Africa and Africa No Filter, are pushing curriculum changes across AU member states to standardize maps that reflect true land area.
• Adoption is uneven: the World Bank says it is phasing out Mercator, now using Winkel-Tripel or Equal Earth for static maps and reducing Mercator use on web maps.
• Technology platforms are partially aligned, with Google Maps using a 3D globe on desktop since 2018 while the mobile app still defaults to Mercator, and NASA employing Equal Earth for some climate maps.