UN votes to make world maps show Africa's true size
On Friday the UN General Assembly voted 164 to one to urge the use of maps that show Africa’s true size. Only the United States voted against, while Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained. The resolution calls on governments and schools to adopt the Equal Earth projection rather than the 16th‑century Mercator map that reduces Africa compared with Europe and North America. It also urges technology firms to make the change. It does not prohibit Mercator. “Maps shape our understanding of the world,” said Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey. “They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”
Accurate maps allow African students and citizens to see the continent’s true scale, confronting a long history of Eurocentric distortion.
Source: Victory for Africa as UN Votes on Resolution to "Correct the Map" | Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (un.org).
Written by the HappyGood desk from the primary source linked above and checked against it. Every story links its source. Corrections: [email protected].
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