UN Votes for New World Map

The United Nations General Assembly has voted for a new world map that displays the African continent differently. The resolution advocates global adoption of the Equal Earth map, which shows actual country sizes. Currently the Mercator projection is used, which makes Africa appear much smaller and further south than reality. The proposal received broad UN support, though the United States voted against. The resolution was introduced by Togo and backed by several African Union countries. Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey says this is scientific, not political: there is scientific evidence so we must accept the new reality. UN resolutions aren't binding, but this could lead to renewed school programs and global navigation system updates. France says it will stop using Mercator, which overemphasizes Russia, the US and Greenland at Africa's expense. The Mercator map was drawn by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 - it was favorable for navigation and is still used nearly 500 years later. On Mercator Africa appears much smaller than its actual size - Africa is actually over 14 times larger than Greenland. Last year 55 African Union countries pledged to adopt the Equal Earth map. NGOs Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa want to "correct the colonial heritage that distorts African identity" through the Correct The Map campaign.