Overview
- The General Assembly adopted the Togo-led “Correct the Map” resolution, which was approved Friday with 164 votes in favor, six abstentions and one no vote from the United States.
- The text challenges the widespread use of the Mercator projection by urging use of map projections that keep continental areas proportional, noting Mercator enlarges regions near the poles and distorts relative size.
- The resolution highlights Equal Earth, an equal-area projection created in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny, as an example that producers and educators can consider.
- The vote carries no legal force, so actual change depends on national decisions and institutions; Togo has said it will update school maps by the end of 2026 and the African Union encourages members to evaluate adoption.
- Mercator will remain in use where its navigational properties matter, but the resolution could shift public and educational mapping over time and prompt publishers and tech platforms to re-evaluate which projections they show.