History was made on Friday when a new map (the Equal Earth Map) of the world was endorsed by the United Nations in a vote on a resolution to correct the ‘distortions’ in the old world map, which was championed by Togo with the backing of the African Union.

The said resolution describes correcting the “distortions” as an act of “cognitive justice and memorial reparation” and points to Equal Earth, developed in 2018, as a projection that more accurately represents relative size.

The newly adopted map “corrects” some of the issues that have been raised about the old map, including it (the old map) making northern continents and countries appear larger, which reinforced a colonial view of the world.

The new map, which was adopted after 164 countries at the UN voted in favour of it, accurately shows the size of some southern continents, particularly Africa.

The “distortions” in the old map, which was designed in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator, perhaps were not intentional.

Mercator designed a famous map for sailors. It was useful for navigation, but it came with a major problem. The further a place is from the equator, the more its size is stretched.

The resolution passed by the UN has not banned the old map. Mercator will still be useful for navigation, but the change is about something bigger than cartography.



UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

Here are the main changes in the new world map:

1. Africa appears much larger on the Equal Earth map compared with the Mercator map, where its size is visually reduced relative to Europe and North America.

2. On the Mercator map, the United States appears to be four times the size of Africa, which has been corrected in the Equal Earth map.

3. Greenland appears significantly smaller on the Equal Earth map, whereas the Mercator projection makes Greenland appear almost comparable in size to Africa.

4. Europe appears less enlarged on the Equal Earth map compared with the Mercator projection.

5. North America appears relatively smaller on the Equal Earth map because the Mercator projection exaggerates the size of regions farther from the Equator.



6. South America appears more proportionate in size on the Equal Earth map, while its shape and size are affected by distortion on the Mercator projection.

7. Asia's relative size becomes more apparent on the Equal Earth map, although its exact shape differs because the two maps use different projections.

8. The Arctic and other polar regions are represented differently, with the Mercator projection greatly exaggerating the size of areas near the poles.

9. The Equal Earth map gives a less Eurocentric visual impression, as continents such as Africa and South America are not visually diminished to the same extent as they can appear on a Mercator map.

10. Russia and Canada also appear significantly smaller on the Equal Earth map, as the Mercator projection exaggerates the size of regions farther from the Equator.



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