WHY AFRICA LOOKS SMALLER ON WORLD MAPS — AND WHAT THE UN JUST CHANGED

By: Pen Blog Media.

Date Published: Saturday, 12th September, 2026 | 30th Rabī’ul Awwal, 1448 AH.

The World's Map

FOR generations, millions of people have learned geography from world maps on classroom walls, in textbooks and increasingly on digital screens. But one of the world's most familiar map projections gives a misleading impression of the relative size of different regions — particularly Africa.

That issue has now reached the United Nations. On September 4, 2026, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting a more accurate and equitable representation of the world's landmasses. The resolution, led by Togo and backed by African countries, received 164 votes in favour, six abstentions and one vote against from the United States.

The development has been widely described as a move to “correct the map” and show Africa at its true scale. But what exactly was wrong with the familiar map — and what is actually changing?

THE MAP AT THE CENTRE OF THE DEBATE

The main issue is the Mercator projection, a map projection first presented by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.

Mercator was not trying to produce a map that accurately compared the physical sizes of continents. Its great strength was navigation. The projection preserves angles and allows lines representing constant compass bearings to appear straight, making it particularly useful for maritime navigation.

The problem arises when the same projection is used to compare the sizes of countries and continents.

Because the Mercator projection increasingly enlarges areas as they move away from the Equator, territories in northern and southern latitudes can appear dramatically larger than they really are.

Africa, much of which lies relatively close to the Equator, therefore appears smaller in comparison.

AFRICA IS NOT ACTUALLY SMALL

One of the clearest examples is Greenland. On a conventional Mercator world map, Greenland can appear comparable in size to Africa.

In reality, Africa is approximately 14 times larger than Greenland. The distortion does not mean that the physical size of Africa has been reduced. Rather, it is the mathematical consequence of converting the curved surface of Earth into a flat map.

The same problem affects other regions, including parts of Latin America and South Asia, while areas closer to the poles are exaggerated.

SO WHY WAS MERCATOR CREATED?

The story begins more than four centuries ago. In 1569, Gerardus Mercator published his famous world map using the projection that would later bear his name.

Its purpose was closely connected to navigation. On the Earth's curved surface, sailors following a constant compass direction travel along a type of path known as a rhumb line. Mercator's projection represented such paths as straight lines on a flat map, making them much easier for navigators to plot.

That made Mercator an important cartographic achievement.

The problem came later when the projection became widely associated with general-purpose world maps, where its distortions could easily be mistaken for actual differences in geographical size.

So describing the Mercator projection simply as a “wrong map” is misleading. It is useful for some purposes and unsuitable for others.

WHAT IS THE EQUAL EARTH MAP?

The alternative receiving attention from the UN resolution is the Equal Earth projection.

Developed in 2018 by cartographers Tom Patterson, Bojan Šavrič and Bernhard Jenny, Equal Earth is an equal-area projection. Its principal advantage is that the relative areas of landmasses are represented much more accurately.

This makes it particularly useful when the purpose of a map is to compare the size of continents, countries or other geographical areas.

Unlike Mercator, Equal Earth does not attempt to preserve every property of the Earth's surface. No flat map can do that perfectly.

Every world map projection involves compromises involving area, shape, distance or direction.

The important question, therefore, is not simply which map is “correct”, but which projection is appropriate for the purpose of the map.

DID THE UN BAN THE MERCATOR MAP?

No. This is one of the most important details missing from some viral versions of the story. The UN General Assembly resolution is not legally binding. It encourages governments, educational institutions, international organisations and technology companies to promote more equitable cartographic representations.

It does not make the Mercator projection illegal, nor does it mean that every map in the world must immediately be replaced.

Mercator's usefulness for navigation remains recognised, while projections such as Equal Earth are better suited to showing relative land area.

WHY DOES THE DECISION MATTER?

The debate is about more than mathematics.

Maps influence how people understand the world. A child who repeatedly sees Greenland displayed as roughly comparable to Africa may not consciously question it, even though the two landmasses are vastly different in the actual area.

The campaign behind the UN resolution argues that geographical representation can influence perceptions of countries and regions, particularly when distortions are repeatedly presented in educational and public settings.

The initiative was led by Togo and supported by the African Union and other African states, placing Africa's representation at the centre of the discussion.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The UN vote does not mean that people will wake up tomorrow to find every map replaced.

Changing maps across school textbooks, atlases, websites, data visualisations and digital platforms will take time.

Togo has indicated plans to update its educational geography materials, while the broader initiative seeks greater adoption of more accurate projections by institutions and mapping services. And the Mercator will not simply disappear. It remains valuable for particular technical and navigational applications.

THE BIGGER LESSON

There is an important lesson hidden inside the debate. A map is a representation of the Earth, not the Earth itself.

Putting a spherical planet onto a flat sheet of paper inevitably creates distortion. The choice of projection determines which characteristics are preserved and which are sacrificed.

Mercator prioritises properties that made it exceptionally useful for navigation. Equal Earth prioritises the relative size of land areas. Neither turns the three-dimensional Earth into a perfectly accurate flat image.

What the UN decision does is encourage the world to become more conscious of that distinction — and to use map projections that are appropriate for the message a map is intended to communicate.

For Africa, the change could mean that students and the wider public increasingly see the continent in a way that more closely reflects its actual geographical scale.

After centuries of seeing the world through familiar cartographic conventions, the question is no longer simply “What does the map show?” It is also: “Why was the map designed that way?”