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4h ago

UN General Assembly Backs Equal‑Area 'Correct the Map' Resolution

The advisory vote increases pressure on governments, educators and mapping firms to adopt equal‑area projections as a technical correction to Mercator distortions.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal asked for Jammu and Kahmir, Ladakh to be shown as part of India's sovereign territory.
The U.N. voted Friday to promote map projections that make Africa look bigger, a move it claims "more accurately reflect the true size of continents" – the culmination of an African-led campaign against the 16th-century Mercator projection, still the most widely used map in the world.
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This handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attending a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek on September 1

Overview

  • The General Assembly adopted the resolution titled “Correct the Map” on Friday by a recorded vote of 164 in favour, one against and six abstentions, calling for wider use of equal‑area projections.
  • India, which voted yes, clarified on Sunday that its support was limited to the technical principle and that any depiction of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh must follow India’s official map.
  • The text is non‑binding and does not endorse a single map or change political boundaries, instead recommending equal‑area projections—such as the Equal Earth projection—where accurate area comparison matters.
  • Practical change will depend on voluntary action by national mapping agencies, school curricula, publishers and major digital platforms and some states and institutions have already signalled shifts away from Mercator‑style uses.
  • Cartographers say the move addresses a known Mercator flaw that enlarges polar regions and shrinks equatorial ones, and the Equal Earth projection, created in 2018 and adopted by the African Union in February 2026, preserves land‑area proportions while keeping familiar shapes.