Overview
- The UN General Assembly voted on Friday, 4 September, to encourage use of the Equal Earth equal-area projection with 164 countries in favor, six abstentions and one opposing vote from the United States.
- Togo introduced the resolution on behalf of 54 African states and the African Union, saying the change aims to correct visual distortions that shrink Africa and other regions on Mercator-style maps.
- The resolution is advisory and not legally binding, so any switch in school textbooks, media maps or digital platforms will rely on decisions by national education authorities, publishers and mapping services.
- Reactions split along diplomatic and technical lines: Ukraine abstained over how Crimea was shown, the U.S. delegation opposed the measure, geographers called the vote largely symbolic, and commentators criticized the resolution for overstating harms without clear evidence.
- Experts note every flat map distorts something—Mercator preserves direction for navigation while Equal Earth preserves area—and the likely effects are long-term changes in teaching and public perception rather than immediate policy or technical shifts by map providers.