Overview
- The UN General Assembly approved Togo’s “Correct the map” resolution by 164 votes to 6 abstentions with the United States the sole no vote, a decision made on Friday that signals wide political support but creates no legal obligation.
- The resolution asks governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies to use the Equal Earth equal-area projection or other area-preserving maps when showing relative sizes, and it does not ban the Mercator projection used for navigation.
- Supporters led by Togo and the African Union say equal-area maps correct a visual bias that shrinks Africa and inflates polar regions, with Africa shown as about 14 times the size of Greenland on accurate area-preserving views.
- Several countries abstained because draft map images shown at the UN did not reflect their territorial claims, a reminder that redrawing public maps raises contested-sovereignty and diplomatic issues as institutions consider implementation.
- Practical hurdles remain because many digital map systems and navigation tools rely on Mercator-style tiling for zooming, so any wider shift will depend on national policies, curriculum changes, publishers and tech firms choosing to update their maps.