New York, September 5 — The United Nations has adopted a new world map that shows Africa as significantly larger and the United States as smaller than on traditional maps, in a decision announced at UN headquarters here. The new map, based on the Gall-Peters projection, corrects long-standing distortions in the widely used Mercator projection, which exaggerates the size of landmasses near the poles and shrinks those near the equator.
Under the new map, Africa appears roughly 14 times larger than it does on the Mercator map, reflecting its true land area of about 30.3 million square kilometers, or 11.7 million square miles.
A More Accurate Representation
The United States, by contrast, appears smaller, aligning with its actual area of about 9.8 million square kilometers, or 3.8 million square miles. The UN resolution, adopted by consensus, calls for the new map to be used in all official UN publications and educational materials, as part of a broader effort to provide a more accurate representation of the world, particularly for developing nations in Africa and South America. The decision has been welcomed by African delegates, who see it as a step toward correcting historical imbalances in global representation.
Correcting Historical Imbalances
The change is the result of years of advocacy by cartographers and geographers, who argue that the Mercator projection, developed in 1569 for nautical navigation, has perpetuated a Eurocentric view of the world. The new map is expected to be phased in over the coming months, with digital and print versions distributed to UN agencies and member states. The UN’s adoption of the Gall-Peters projection is a significant development, one that will be closely watched by governments and organizations around the world, as they consider how to implement the change and what impact it will have on their work.
Looking Ahead
As the new map is rolled out, it will be important to watch how it is received by different countries and regions, and how it affects the way people think about and interact with the world. The map’s adoption does not change physical geography but alters how the world is visually understood in official UN contexts.
