UN General Assembly endorses a new world map that shows more accurately Africa's size
- The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Friday endorsing the Equal Earth projection map as a more accurate representation of global geography, with 164 member states voting in favor.
- The resolution was sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union members, while only the U.S. voted against it and six countries abstained.
- The Equal Earth projection shows Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland, whereas the traditional Mercator map makes them appear roughly equal in size.
- The resolution encourages but does not mandate governments and institutions to replace the Mercator projection, which has been commonly used since the 16th century, with the Equal Earth projection.
- The Mercator map was designed for European sea navigation but distorts landmasses by enlarging polar regions while shrinking Africa and South America.
The United Nations General Assembly endorsed a new world map on Friday that more accurately represents Africa's true size. The resolution, sponsored by Togo and supported by African Union members, passed with 164 votes in favor, one vote against from the U.S., and six abstentions from Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine.
The resolution encourages the adoption of the Equal Earth projection to replace the traditional Mercator map that has been widely used since the 16th century. The Equal Earth projection shows Africa as 14 times larger than Greenland, correcting the Mercator map's distortion that makes them appear nearly equal in size. However, the resolution does not mandate the replacement, only encouraging its use globally.
The Mercator projection was originally designed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to assist European sea navigation. However, advocates argue it distorts landmasses by enlarging polar regions such as North America and Greenland while shrinking Africa and South America. The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, follows the Earth's curvature and displays continents in their true proportions.
联合国大会批准新世界地图 更准确展示非洲大陆面积
联合国大会周五批准了一份新的世界地图，更准确地表现非洲大陆的真实面积。由多哥提出、非盟成员国支持的决议以164票赞成、1票反对（美国）和6票弃权（塞尔维亚、爱沙尼亚、格鲁吉亚、立陶宛、摩尔多瓦和乌克兰）的结果通过。
该决议鼓励采用等地球投影来替代自16世纪以来广泛使用的传统麦卡托地图。等地球投影将非洲显示为格陵兰岛面积的14倍，纠正了麦卡托地图使两者看起来几乎相等的失真。不过该决议并未强制替换，仅鼓励全球采用。
麦卡托投影由弗兰德斯制图师格哈德·麦卡托原为协助欧洲海上航海而设计。但倡导者认为它通过扩大北美和格陵兰岛等极地地区而缩小非洲和南美洲来扭曲陆地面积。2018年开发的等地球投影遵循地球曲率，以真实比例显示各大陆。