On September 4, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Togo-led resolution to shift away from the 16th-century Mercator map towards the Equal Earth projection, which more accurately depicts Africa's true size.
A total of 164 countries voted in favor of the map, a campaign championed by the African Union, while six abstained and the United States served as the sole vote against the resolution.
The widely used Mercator layout has long been criticized for exaggerating the size of regions near the poles, making Africa appear roughly the same size as Greenland, when in reality the African continent is 14 times larger.
US representative Yaryna Ferencevych argued the move hid a radical agenda of promoting reparations and "cognitive justice," suggesting the UN should focus on genuine problems.
However, the decision was celebrated by African academics and journalists as a symbolic corrective to centuries of marginalization.
Christine Mungai, editor-in-chief of The Continent, noted that symbols and myths are where human beings find meaning, while economist Carlos Lopes emphasized that maps are not innocent drawings, reinforcing the real-world impact of cartographical accuracy on global perception.
