Africa takes ‘Correct the Map’ campaign to UN General Assembly

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly will on Friday vote on an African-led effort to change how the world sees itself on a map.

The draft resolution argues that the centuries-old Mercator projection dramatically enlarges landmasses farther from the equator, leaving Africa appearing disproportionately small.

Backed by the African Union (AU), the text encourages governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to use “Equal Earth” and other equal-area maps where continental size matters.

It does not ban Mercator but seeks to establish more proportionally accurate maps as a new global norm.

Africa is taking a campaign to change the way the world is represented on maps to the United Nations — with Togo playing a leading role in an effort that argues the continent has been visually diminished for centuries.

“This campaign is not a Togolese initiative. It’s for the African continent. It’s very important to know that now, when you see the situation of the African continent and the whole role the African continent is playing in the world, our role is not what you know. We can do better than what we are seeing right now. So, this campaign is not political. It’s a scientific campaign because the two African sizes, as a geographical tool, are clear,” says Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey.

The draft GA text seeks to :

• Correct the Mercator distortion of continental sizes that make Africa and other equatorial regions appear proportionately smaller.

• Promoting Equal Earth’s projection & encouraging countries and international organizations to use it and other equal-area projections.

• Changing educational tools by encouraging places of learning schools to use representations that more accurately reflect the true sizes of continents.

• Engaging tech platforms by urging global technology companies to promote more accurate representations.

• And setting a new global standard and wider promotion of the “Correct the Map” initiative around the world.

The argument here is that the effort is steeped in science rather than politics.

“We are asking the member states to move from the Mercator map to the Equal Earth map. Why? First of all, it’s clear that Africa is not asking for a privilege. We are not asking for compassion. We are not asking for something like a miracle.

“We just want to have the real size that we have in the world in terms of geography. So, we are asking for support. If all the member states can support this initiative, all the member states have to know that this is not a political deal. It’s a scientific deal.

“So, as a scientific [initiative], we have to support it.”

On the Mercator projection, the distortion increases dramatically as one move away from the equator. Africa straddles the equator, so it is comparatively less enlarged, while Europe, North America, Greenland and Russia are stretched substantially. The result is that Africa, Latin America and other equatorial regions appear much smaller relative to northern countries than it really is.

SABC News UN correspondent Sherwin Bryce-Pease asked Minister for Foreign Affairs of Togo Robert Dussey if, given the practical nature of the endeavour, whether he expected any opposition to the draft resolution?

“You know, I’m an academic before a politician. As an academic, I say we have to have as large a consensus as possible, because we are here at the UN; we never know.”

The proposal does not seek to ban Mercator. It acknowledges that every attempt to represent a spherical Earth on a flat surface involves distortion and that different projections remain useful for different purposes, including navigation. But Dussey, like so many in Africa, believes that representation matters.

Minister: “Yeah, I think the representation is very important for us. The way we have this initiative right now, I think this initiative, after the last decision resolution for the reparation, is one of the examples of reparation. What we are waiting for is the UN and all the member states. This representation is very important for the African continent, for African people, because, you know, I was telling you, we need—you know, we are not asking for a privilege. So, our place in the world, you have to take our place.

Sherwin: “And, Minister, put very simply, Africa is bigger than people think.”

Minister: “I think so. Yes, of course. Africa is, you know, it’s clear… That’s why I say it’s not a political matter. It’s a…”

Sherwin: “It’s a fact.”

Minister: “It’s a fact. Yeah.”