UN set to vote to scrap century-old world map and 'shrink' Britain to combat 'Western biases'

However, critics highlight that it projects a spherical Earth onto a flat, rectangular surface, creating massive distortions in the relative sizes of landmasses the farther they are from the Equator.

It means landmasses such as Britain and Greenland, which are far away from the equator, appear larger, and those near the Equator, such as Africa, appear smaller.

The proposals would mean the traditional map would be replaced by the 2018 Equal Earth design, which depicts continents at their true geographical scale.

Togo is sponsoring the resolution, which has the backing of all 54 fellow African Union member states.

Robert Dussey, Togo's foreign affairs minister, framed the initiative as grounded in evidence rather than ideology.

He said: "This discussion is not a political discussion [but] a scientific discussion, because there is scientific proof so we all have to accept the reality."

The Mercator projection is used worldwide and is an international standard for marine navigation because it preserves angles and directions

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The Equal Earth projection was created by an international group of cartographers and is championed by the #CorrectTheMap campaign.

The Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator devised his projection in 1569 as a navigational tool for seafarers, yet it remains the dominant global standard nearly five centuries on.

Its method of flattening the globe drastically shrinks equatorial regions while inflating those at higher latitudes, making Africa appear roughly the same size as Greenland, despite being 14 times larger.

As Britain is at a high latitude, it will appear smaller than it does in the current Mercator map projection.

The proposals would mean the traditional map would be replaced by the 2018 Equal Earth design

EQUALEARTH.COM

A Change.org petition supporting the campaign, which has attracted more than 11,000 signatures, said: "You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare."

Historians and geographers have long argued the projection reflects Western biases, with activists describing it as "cartographic colonialism."

The African Union endorsed the #CorrectTheMap movement in August 2025 before tasking Togo with leading its adoption at the UN.

Critics argue that the projection has quietly influenced global power dynamics by visually diminishing the Global South while enlarging northern hemisphere nations, reinforcing biases in trade, development, and education.

The Equal Earth projection with America's centralised

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JJ Enoch, a senior associate at London-based geopolitical risk advisory firm JS Held, said the Mercator map reduced Africa's apparent scale.

He connected the campaign to African nations seeking "greater influence in global institutions and greater control over how the continent is represented."

He added: "Adopting an equal-area map would provide a more accurate basis for education and public understanding, while signalling that Africa's demographic, economic and geopolitical importance should no longer be viewed through inherited and distorted conventions."

Though UN resolutions carry no binding force, a successful vote could prompt changes to school curricula and widely used technology platforms.

Robert Dussey, Togo's foreign affairs minister, framed the initiative as grounded in evidence rather than ideology

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In March, a Ghana-led resolution declaring the slave trade the "gravest crime against humanity" secured 123 votes in favour, with just three against and 52 abstentions.

That success, also driven by the African Union, has fuelled confidence that Friday's vote will yield a similar outcome.

Should the resolution pass, Togo's government plans to host an event in the capital Lomé during the first quarter of 2027, bringing together Unesco, the African Union and technology companies including Google Maps to chart a path for implementation.

Mr Dussey said: "To those who say why now, I say, why not? When we look at the world map it is time for us to change the narrative."

"It's time for us in Africa to take responsibility to change what we can change ourselves."