United Nations passes resolution to redraw world map to show true size of Africa
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has voted to adopt a new map reflecting the more accurate size of Africa, replacing the traditional Mercator one that had often drawn opposition from critics across the continent.
The resolution titled the “Correct the Map” was brought before the assembly by Togo and was backed by the African Union, with 164 member nations of the UN eventually voting yes during a session on Friday to pass the proposal.
The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution, while six countries, Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, Moldova, Lithuania and Serbia abstained from the vote.
The Mercator map was designed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator but drew constant criticism for distorting relative size, most notably depicting Africa as roughly the same size as Greenland, when in fact Africa is about 14 times larger.
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