UN General Assembly Recommends Replacing Mercator With Equal Earth Map

Overview

• The General Assembly approved the resolution by 164 votes to 1 with six abstentions on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, calling for a shift from the Mercator projection to area‑preserving models such as Equal Earth.
• Togo led the diplomatic push with backing from the African Union and sponsored the text at the UN, framing the change as correcting scientific distortions and colonial visual biases.
• France announced on the same day that it will abandon Mercator for official use, while the United States cast the lone vote against the measure and criticized the initiative.
• The resolution is advisory and nonbinding, so practical change will depend on national education authorities, official agencies and mapping platforms agreeing to phased updates.
• Supporters say the move will better show true land areas—so Africa and South America appear larger relative to polar regions—and could prompt curriculum revisions, official map updates and talks with companies like Google in early 2027.