Overview
- The General Assembly approved the Correct the Map resolution on Friday, September 4, 2026, by 164 votes to 1 with six abstentions, promoting the Equal Earth equal-area projection for education and public communication.
- Sponsors led by Togo and backed by the African Union say the change corrects Mercator’s area distortion that makes Africa and other equatorial regions look much smaller than they are, for example showing Greenland as roughly the same size as Africa despite Africa being about 14 times larger.
- The United States cast the lone no vote, calling the measure ideological, while Ukraine abstained over concerns that some Equal Earth depictions misrepresent territory it says is occupied by Russia.
- France announced it will stop using Mercator for general public maps and co-sponsor the UN text, and Togo said it will update school geography materials this year and host talks with UNESCO, the AU and tech firms on implementation.
- The resolution is voluntary and does not affect Mercator’s use for maritime and aerial navigation, so any broader change will depend on schools, publishers and major digital map providers choosing to adopt equal-area projections.