UN Backs New World Map
The United Nations General Assembly has backed a new world map designed to represent countries and continents more accurately.
The “Correct the Map” resolution, led by Togo and supported by African Union members, promotes the Equal Earth projection as an alternative to the widely used Mercator map.
The Mercator projection, created in 1569, makes regions closer to the poles appear much larger than they actually are. For example, Greenland can appear similar in size to Africa, even though Africa is about 14 times larger.
The resolution passed with 164 countries in favour, six abstentions and only the United States voting against. However, it is not legally binding and does not ban the Mercator projection, which remains useful for navigation.
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