UN Adopts New World Map, Replacing Mercator Projection with Equal Earth Design

The United Nations has voted to adopt a new world map projection, phasing out the centuries-old Mercator map in favor of the Equal Earth design. This significant shift, championed by Togo and supported by 164 member nations, aims to more accurately represent the true relative sizes of countries, particularly highlighting the continent of Africa, which the Mercator projection has historically depicted as significantly smaller than it is.

The decision to move away from the 16th-century Mercator projection, a tool widely used for navigation but criticized for its spatial distortions, marks a move towards a more equitable and geographically accurate global representation. The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, is lauded for its ability to show countries' true proportions, a change that has been long advocated by geographers and international bodies seeking to correct historical cartographic biases.