UN adopts Equal Earth map: a new view of continents

In March, the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Equal Earth projection. Of the 171 member states present, 164 voted in favour, six abstained and the United States opposed the change.

The resolution was introduced on behalf of 54 African nations by Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey, who said the move was needed to correct an “imbalance inherited from the past” and give a fairer visual representation of continents.

The Equal Earth projection is an equal‑area map: it keeps the true size of landmasses while distorting their shape. Compared with the familiar Mercator map, it enlarges Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania, and reduces the apparent size of North America and parts of Europe.

Importantly, the new map does not redraw national borders or coastlines; it only changes the relative visual proportion of continents, offering a more accurate sense of area without altering political boundaries.

Because maps are powerful tools for learning, a larger visual footprint can affect how people perceive a region’s importance. Togo plans to update its school textbooks with the Equal Earth map, although the change is not legally binding and the Mercator projection will still be used for navigation.

Geographer Greg Lauer described the switch as largely symbolic, noting that the Mercator projection is useful for navigation but “wrong for comparison”. He added that the new projection preserves area exactly and approximates shape, providing a more equitable visual baseline.

If the Equal Earth map becomes widely adopted in education and media, future generations may develop a mental picture of the world that recognises the true scale of every continent, subtly reshaping attitudes toward global equity.

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