The UN approved a new world map: the science and geopolitics behind Africa's true size

Anyone who spent time in a classroom over the past few decades likely remembers the world map on the wall showing Greenland and Africa as roughly equal in size. Most people accepted that layout without question. But geographic reality is quite different, and a recent UN recommendation has put continental proportions back at the center of global discussion.

On September 4, 2026, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution submitted by Togo and backed by the 54 member states of the African Union. Voting 164 in favor, the assembly recommended adopting equal-area projections, such as Equal Earth, to replace the Mercator map in educational and institutional settings.

The classroom enigma: why Africa appeared smaller for 450 years

This distortion began in 1569, when Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator designed a chart tailored for ocean navigation.

Sailing ships needed to plot straight compass bearings across long distances. Mercator solved this by creating a conformal cylindrical projection, a mathematical approach that keeps local angles and coastlines accurate.

That design choice came with a geometric trade-off: landmass scale expands as distance from the Equator increases toward the poles. Temperate and polar regions in the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe, Canada, Russia, and Greenland, appeared enlarged. Meanwhile, equatorial regions such as Africa and South America retained closer proportions to their actual scale, making them look smaller next to the expanded North.

Mercator created his map to guide ships in 1569. The shift occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries, when textbook publishers adapted a sea navigation chart as the standard map for teaching geography in schools.

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No map is neutral. The choice of a projection shapes how we view the world. Adopting an equal-area projection in schools educates people to understand the true scale and significance of Africa and the Global South.

Cartographic geometry: why every flat map contains distortions

Recommending a new cartographic format raises a practical question: why was a perfectly accurate flat map not made from the start?

The answer lies in geometry. In 1827, German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss proved in his Theorema Egregium that projecting a three-dimensional sphere onto a flat plane cannot be done without altering area, shape, or distance.

Because of this mathematical constraint, every projection must prioritize one aspect over another:

1. Conformal projections (such as the Mercator projection): Preserve local angles and coastline shapes, but distort relative land areas.
2. Equal-area projections (such as Equal Earth): Preserve exact relative sizes between territories, with minor adjustments to coastal outlines.
3. Compromise projections (such as Robinson): Balance area and angle distortion without keeping either completely exact.

The UN decision and the Equal Earth projection

The resolution passed at the UN forms part of the "Correct the Map" campaign, led by the African Union and Togo to adjust how geography is presented in education.

The recommended model, the Equal Earth projection, was created in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny to offer an accurate representation of continental land areas.

On an Equal Earth map, Africa's true area stands out clearly. At 30.3 million square kilometers, Africa is the second-largest continent on Earth. This proportional scale is important when analyzing global topics and understanding the socio-economic development of the African continent.

For context, Africa's total land area could accommodate the entire landmasses of the United States, China, India, Western Europe, and Japan combined, with remaining space left over.

Educational and geopolitical context

Adopting equal-area maps influences how students view continental proportions and global geography.

Countries such as France have begun updating public school textbooks with equal-area maps. As these guidelines spread, standard classroom materials are moving toward representations that match physical continental dimensions.

Maps influence how people perceive global relationships. By endorsing equal-area projections, educational systems and international organizations bring printed and digital maps into closer alignment with physical geography.