Overview

• The African Union endorsed the Correct the Map campaign on August 14, a major boost for the effort to move away from the Mercator projection.
• Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa launched the campaign in April to shift schools, media and organizations toward the Equal Earth projection.
• On Mercator maps, high-latitude regions appear enlarged while equatorial regions shrink, whereas on Equal Earth roughly 14 Greenlands would fit inside Africa.
• Adoption remains uneven, with Google using a 3D globe on desktop since 2018 but keeping Mercator-like views as the default on its mobile app and many classrooms still using Mercator.
• Cartographers describe Mercator as obsolete for general world maps, with experts noting it was designed for navigation rather than accurate area representation.