Nigeria has joined 163 other countries in backing an African-led United Nations resolution calling for more accurate and equitable representation of Africa on world maps.
The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution, titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing global cartographic representation and promoting equitable representation of the world’s regions, particularly Africa,” by 164 votes to one, with six countries abstaining.
The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution, while Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained.
The initiative, supported by the African Union, challenges the long-standing use of conventional map projections that can make Africa appear significantly smaller than its actual size.
Africa spans about 30 million square kilometres, making it the world’s second-largest continent by both landmass and population. Advocates of the resolution argue that widely used Mercator maps distort the relative size of continents by enlarging areas closer to the poles.
Togo led negotiations on behalf of the African Group, building on an African Union-backed campaign for more accurate geographical representation of the continent.
Speaking during the General Assembly debate, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said maps were more than technical tools, arguing that they shape how people perceive the world.
“Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination and influence collective perceptions,” Dussey said.
The resolution encourages the wider use of the Equal Earth projection and other equal-area map projections where accurate comparisons of the sizes of countries and continents are required.
It also warns that distorted cartographic representations contribute to the “symbolic minimisation” of Africa and other regions in the global imagination.
“A fair map does not change the geography of the world; it changes how we see the world,” Dussey said, adding that “a fair world begins with a fair map.”
Developed in 2018, the Equal Earth projection is designed to preserve the relative areas of countries and continents, allowing Africa to appear closer to its actual geographical scale.
Unlike the Mercator projection, which significantly enlarges territories located near the poles, equal-area projections preserve proportional landmass across the map.
The United States opposed the resolution, arguing that the General Assembly should prioritise more urgent global challenges.
France, however, backed the initiative and announced plans to phase out the Mercator projection in its official world maps.
