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UN General Assembly Backs Equal‑Area Map Push While India Insists Its Borders Be Shown Exactly

The non-binding Sept. 4 resolution urges use of equal-area projections to correct size distortions and leaves implementation to schools, publishers and tech firms.

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 African‑led “Correct the Map” resolution on Sept. 4 with a 164–1 vote, encouraging equal‑area projections such as the Equal Earth map for uses where true relative size matters.
  • The measure is advisory and does not require changes; its effect will depend on voluntary adoption by governments, education systems, publishers and mapping platforms.
  • India voted in favor but formally explained its vote and demanded that any depiction of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh follow India’s official map after some Equal Earth renderings showed those frontiers differently.
  • Governments and organisations have begun signalling partial shifts—France announced changes—and UN, UNESCO, the African Union and tech companies plan coordination meetings to discuss practical rollout next year.
  • Supporters say the move corrects the Mercator projection’s distortion that shrinks equatorial regions like Africa; the Equal Earth projection was created in 2018 and was adopted by the African Union in February 2026.