Beyond Mercator: A New World Map That Shows Countries More Accurately

NEW YORK, NY-In a cartographic push to reflect the Global South more accurately, the UN General Assembly has backed a world map that shows the relative size of continents and nations more faithfully.

In a resolution adopted with India’s backing, the General Assembly on September 4 called for the adoption of the Equal Earth Projection map in place of popular maps such as those based on the Mercator Projection, which exaggerate the size of countries in the north.

The US was the sole objector to the resolution, which was adopted with 164 votes, while six countries abstained.

The Mercator Projection, named after 16th-century Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator, remains the most common basis for maps used around the world.

Mercator created the map for marine navigation as Europeans began their colonial conquests, and its distortions have come to be associated with the geographic worldview of that era.

Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, whose country led the campaign for the change, said, “Correcting the map means recognizing that every region of the world deserves to be represented accurately and with dignity.”

The representation of India in the Equal Earth Projection does not change significantly. The main discernible difference is that the peninsular part of India is slightly less angular than in the Mercator Projection, widening out marginally in the Equal Earth Projection.

The US, however, is shown smaller on the Equal Earth map, more accurately reflecting its physical area relative to other countries.

Yaryna Ferencevych, a deputy US representative, denounced the Assembly resolution as part of “the much larger and more radical ideological project”. She said the UN was losing its credibility because of efforts like this.

Russia, which appears considerably larger on Mercator maps, supported the resolution and described it as anti-colonial.

The Assembly resolution is only advisory and does not require any nation or institution to replace Mercator-type maps with Equal Earth maps.

The European Union, which supported the resolution, emphasized that it “is strictly limited to cartographic representation for educational, awareness-raising and geographical literacy purposes”.

The distortions in Mercator maps are seen starkly in the depiction of Greenland, which is shown as having the same area as Africa, although Africa has 14 times more physical area. Europe is also shown as larger than South America, which is about 75 per cent bigger by area. (IANS)