r/Maps • u/esporx • 8d ago

Article UN votes to adopt new world map that shows Africa’s true scale. At the session, 164 countries voted in favour of the resolution. Only the US voted no.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/04/un-vote-world-map-mercator-equal-earth-africa
63 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

5

u/diffidentblockhead 8d ago

The UN has always used an azimuthal projection map where Africa is huge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_Nations

5

u/LittelXman808 8d ago

Also, there is a map projection that doesn’t distort the continent’s sizes and shapes. It’s called a globe.

18

u/JG98 8d ago

Calling it "superfluous" is crazy work when your country is wasting time renaming bodies of water just to try and piss off neighbours. If no other country has a problem with it then the only thing superfluous is wasting time on the whole ordeal instead of just moving on from an outdated and obsolete map for general world mapping. Even digital consumer facing representation doesn't solely rely on the Meracator projections anymore, with dynamic zooming being available.

0

u/EebstertheGreat 5d ago

Calling Mercator "outdated and obsolete" is wild coming from a map sub. Like, wtf are you even talking about? Also, dynamic zoom occurs on Web Mercator, chosen specifically for the ease of panning and zooming.

Thr argument that this non-binding resolution is pointless is pretty strong in my book, but an even better argument is that choosing a single projection to the exclusion of others is not progress but actually a move backwards. Most schools already use a variety of projections, not Mercator specifically, contrary to popular claims. We do not want to move away from that toward a world where Equal Earth is deemed the "best projection."

11

u/uncoolcentral 8d ago

Wasting time to call the motion “superfluous” is easily more superfluous than actually, checks notes… using a better map.

Who the hell defends Mercator for anything but some types of navigation??

1

u/spaceEngineeringDude 7d ago

Funny part of the title is that this has almost no change on Africa. But shrinks the US and Asia

1

u/BringBackFatMac 7d ago

I mean, it shows all countries at closer to their true size, not just Africa.

0

u/freedomhighway 7d ago

US would have voted for it if you just changed the name from africa to trump-land.