THE United Nations General Assembly has adopted the “Correct the Map” resolution with overwhelming support, including a yes vote from Zambia.
The Togo-led initiative, backed by all 54 African Union member states, seeks to address a cartographic distortion that has long minimized Africa’s true size on world maps.
Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Chola Milambo, welcomed the adoption as a historic moment for Africa and other marginalized regions.
“For centuries, the map was not depicted correctly,” Dr. Milambo said.
The resolution notes that the Mercator projection, widely used globally, distorts area representation, particularly for land masses far from the equator. As a result, Africa appears roughly the same size as Greenland, when in reality it is 14 times larger.
The resolution encourages governments, schools, and international institutions to adopt the 2018 Equal Earth projection, an equal-area map that accurately represents the size of continents without distortion.
While non-binding, the resolution is expected to influence textbooks, atlases, and digital platforms worldwide.
This is according to a press statement issued by Namatama Njekwa, First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations
(Mwebantu, Saturday, 5th September, 2026)
