The UN drops Mercator for Equal Earth: Africa at its true size, the United States the only vote against

What the comparison reveals

What everyone says

The UN General Assembly adopted the 'Correct the Map' resolution on September 4, 2026, with 164 votes in favor, 1 against, and 6 abstentions.
The United States was the only country to vote against the text, citing an 'ideological agenda' and a distraction from 'real issues of peace, prosperity, or good relations'.
The Mercator projection, in use since 1569, makes Greenland appear almost as large as Africa, when in fact the continent is about fourteen times larger.

Where it breaks apart

Decolonial Reading of the Vote — Several perspectives frame the change in the map as a repair of a colonial legacy that visually minimized Africa and South Asia for centuries, while the United States rejects this framing as a foreign ideological agenda unrelated to the UN's work.
Legal Scope of the Resolution — Canada and Australia, through a joint statement led by New Zealand, emphasize that the text has no effect on borders, sovereignty, or navigation, while other perspectives present it primarily as a major diplomatic victory for Africa.
Isolated Vote or Ongoing Offensive — Nigeria and Ghana link this vote to a series of recent African diplomatic successes at the UN, including the resolution on slavery reparations, while the United States describes it as part of a 'more radical ideological project' in isolation.

On Friday, September 4, 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, with 164 votes in favor, one vote against, and six abstentions, a resolution inviting member states to abandon the Mercator projection, used since 1569, in favor of the Equal Earth projection. The text was introduced by Togo on behalf of the African Union, which denounces the distortion of Mercator that enlarges areas near the poles at the expense of the equator: on this map, Greenland appears almost as large as Africa, while the continent is approximately fourteen times larger. The United States was the only country to vote against the text.

The resolution is non-binding: it invites states to use Equal Earth without requiring them to do so, nor does it challenge Mercator for maritime navigation.

Togo

Led by its minister Robert Dussey, it plans to revise its geography textbooks by the end of the year.

The abstentions

Six countries abstained: Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine.

The Equal Earth projection

Designed in 2018, it also enlarges Latin America, South Asia, and Oceania compared to Mercator.

Key figures

164
Number of member states that voted in favor of the resolution at the UN General Assembly: 164
1 source · BBC
1
Number of countries opposed to the text: the United States, 1
1 source · NPR
6
Number of abstentions at the UN General Assembly: 6
1 source · Capital FM Kenya
14 times
Actual size of Africa compared to Greenland, which appears almost as large on Mercator: approximately 14 times larger
1 source · Le Monde

published on

September 5, 2026

countries

sources

articles

74%

gap

What the comparison reveals

What everyone says

Where it breaks apart

Key figures

Countries covered (12)