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

Argentina

2 SOURCES

Technical and descriptive coverage · 2 of 12 countries

Buenos Aires is taking stock of how Argentina itself is changing shape on the new map, gaining in apparent width but losing relative weight compared to territories closer to the equator.

Australia

4 SOURCES

Western countries with reservations · 2 of 12 countries

Canberra is first taking note of the diplomatic maneuvering led by Togo and the unusual isolation of the United States, while also pointing out that Australia itself is expanding on the new map adopted at the UN.

Bangladesh

2 SOURCES

Led by the Global South · 5 of 12 countries

Dhaka takes away from this cartographic shift a long-awaited correction: South Asia, like Africa, is no longer downplayed on school maps inherited from Mercator.

Canada

2 SOURCES

Western countries with reservations · 2 of 12 countries

Ottawa supports the resolution on Equal Earth, but qualifies its vote with a safeguard clause that does not affect borders, sovereignty, or navigation.

United States

2 SOURCES

Isolated opposition · 1 of 12 countries

The United States government denounces the UN's ideological agenda and remains the only country in the world to vote against the symbolic abandonment of Mercator.

France

3 SOURCES

European powers repositioning · 2 of 12 countries

Paris sees this UN vote as a diplomatic lever towards Africa, claiming a gesture of cartographic truth while tightening ties strained by its colonial past.

Ghana

2 SOURCES

Led by the Global South · 5 of 12 countries

Accra welcomes a massive vote at the UN (164 votes to 1) and particularly notes the diplomatic isolation of the United States, the only country to have rejected a world map more faithful to the actual size of Africa.

India

3 SOURCES

Led by the Global South · 5 of 12 countries

New Delhi sees this vote as proof that an Africa-led coalition can garner 164 votes against a single opposing vote, that of the United States, in the most universal UN setting.

Kenya

2 SOURCES

Led by the Global South · 5 of 12 countries

Nairobi hails a diplomatic victory driven by the South and takes the solitary US vote as proof that the world map remains a power play.

Nigeria

4 SOURCES

Led by the Global South · 5 of 12 countries

Nigeria views this UN vote as part of a continuum of assertive African diplomacy led by Togo and the African Union, just a few months after the resolution on slavery reparations.

United Kingdom

3 SOURCES

European powers repositioning · 2 of 12 countries

London views the vote as a diplomatic shift where the United Kingdom has chosen to side with the majority of the South rather than with Washington, which remained the sole opponent to the Togolese resolution.

Sweden

2 SOURCES

Technical and descriptive coverage · 2 of 12 countries

Stockholm outlines the cartographic mechanics of the shift to Equal Earth, noting the quantifiable disparity between Greenland and Africa and the lone US vote against 164 countries in favor.