Here is a polished 800-word human-sounding news rewrite, retaining the key details and presenting the positions of the different countries as reported.
Nigeria has joined 163 other countries in backing an African-led initiative at the United Nations aimed at promoting more accurate representations of the size of continents and countries on world maps.
The initiative culminated in the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly calling for a rebalancing of global cartographic representation, particularly the way Africa is portrayed in commonly used world maps.
The resolution, titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing global cartographic representation and promoting equitable representation of the world’s regions, particularly Africa,” was adopted by an overwhelming vote of 164 countries in favour and one against, while six countries abstained.
The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution. Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained.
The vote represents a significant diplomatic effort by African countries and their partners to draw attention to the way conventional map projections can distort the apparent size of different parts of the world.
The campaign, supported by the African Union, challenges centuries of cartographic conventions that have often made Africa appear considerably smaller than its actual geographical size.
Africa occupies approximately 30 million square kilometres, making it the world’s second-largest continent by both land area and population. However, advocates of the initiative argue that the visual representation of the continent on widely used maps does not adequately reflect its true scale.
Much of the criticism has focused on the Mercator projection, a map system developed for navigational purposes that significantly enlarges areas located farther from the Equator, particularly territories in the Northern Hemisphere.
The distortion means countries and regions closer to the poles can appear much larger on a conventional world map than they actually are in relation to countries around the Equator.
The African-led initiative seeks to encourage the wider adoption of equal-area map projections, particularly in educational and informational contexts where accurate comparisons of geographical size are important.
Togo played a leading role in negotiations on behalf of the African Group at the United Nations. The initiative was built around an African Union-supported campaign to promote a more accurate and balanced visual representation of the continent.
Speaking during the United Nations General Assembly, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey argued that maps should not be regarded simply as technical tools used to depict geographical locations.
According to him, maps have a powerful influence on how societies understand the world and how people perceive different regions and countries.
“Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination and influence collective perceptions,” Dussey said.
He argued that correcting cartographic distortions was therefore about more than changing the appearance of a map. It was also about addressing the perceptions that such representations could create over generations.
The resolution promotes the wider use of the Equal Earth projection and other equal-area projections in circumstances where it is important to compare the actual relative sizes of continents and countries.
Developed in 2018, the Equal Earth projection was designed to preserve the relative area of geographical regions while providing a visually balanced representation of the planet.
Unlike the Mercator projection, an equal-area map does not artificially enlarge territories because of their position closer to the poles.
As a result, Africa appears much closer to its actual geographical scale, while countries in northern regions appear smaller relative to their conventional representation.
Supporters of the UN resolution argue that the long-standing visual distortion has contributed to what the resolution describes as the “symbolic minimisation” of Africa and other regions in the global collective imagination.
The argument is not that traditional maps deliberately reduce Africa’s importance, but that repeated exposure to distorted geographical representations can influence people’s perceptions of the relative significance and size of different parts of the world.
Dussey captured the broader message of the campaign by arguing that changing maps could contribute to changing perceptions.
“A fair map does not change the geography of the world; it changes how we see the world,” he said, adding that “a fair world begins with a fair map.”
The resolution nevertheless faced opposition from the United States, which argued that the UN General Assembly should concentrate its attention and resources on what it considers more urgent global challenges.
Despite the American opposition, the initiative secured overwhelming support from UN member states.
France was among the countries that supported the resolution and reportedly announced plans to move away from the Mercator projection in its official world maps.
Such a change would alter the visual relationship between France and countries closer to the Equator, just as it would affect the appearance of the United States, Russia and other northern countries when compared with equatorial nations.
The debate surrounding the resolution highlights the broader relationship between cartography, education, culture and perceptions of global geography.
For decades, the Mercator projection has been widely used because of its historical usefulness for navigation, even though it does not accurately preserve the relative size of land masses.
The adoption of the resolution therefore does not mean that the Mercator projection will immediately disappear from every map. Rather, it encourages greater awareness of its limitations and promotes the use of alternative projections when representing geographical size is the priority.
For African countries, the initiative also carries symbolic significance. It reflects broader efforts to challenge historical representations and narratives that, in their view, have shaped how Africa is perceived internationally.
Nigeria’s support places it among the countries backing the campaign for more geographically proportional representations of the world.
The overwhelming vote at the United Nations demonstrates that the issue has attracted support well beyond Africa, although the opposition from the United States shows that there are still differing views over the priority that should be attached to cartographic reform.
Ultimately, the “Correct the Map” initiative seeks to encourage people to understand that every map is a representation of reality rather than reality itself. The projection and design choices used in producing a map can influence how the size, position and importance of different regions are perceived.
For its African proponents, ensuring that maps provide a more accurate picture of the continent is therefore both a cartographic and representational issue.
