Philadelphia, PA, September 5, 2026 — The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution to endorse the Equal Earth world map projection. This decision signifies a shift in how global geography might be represented within UN documentation and discussions, favoring a projection that proponents state provides a more accurate depiction of landmass sizes, particularly for continents like Africa.

The Equal Earth projection, developed by Bojan Šavrić, Bernhard Jenny, and Tom Patterson, is designed to address perceived distortions inherent in older map projections, most notably the Mercator projection. Supporters of the Equal Earth map argue it offers a more equitable and visually accurate representation of the world’s continents, a key point being its depiction of Africa’s true scale. The Mercator projection, widely used since the 16th century, is known for significantly distorting the size of landmasses nearer the poles, making them appear much larger than they are in reality relative to equatorial regions.

The resolution’s passage reflects a growing global conversation about cartographic representation and its impact on public perception of different regions and nations. The endorsement by the UN General Assembly is expected to lend significant weight to the Equal Earth projection’s adoption in various educational and governmental contexts.

However, the vote was not unanimous. The United States cast the only dissenting vote against the resolution. The specific reasons for the U.S. opposition were not detailed in the information provided.

The implications of adopting the Equal Earth projection are largely seen as positive by its advocates, who believe it promotes a better understanding of global proportions and can help counteract long-standing visual biases in geographical education and awareness.


Story summarized from the original created by John Yoon on www.inquirer.com, see more information here.

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