UN Backs African-Led Push for Equal-Area Maps to Show Africa’s True Size

What the report says

The United Nations General Assembly has endorsed an African-led effort to promote world maps that better reflect the relative size of continents, according to SoftPower News. The vote, reported as 164 to one on Friday, backed a resolution encouraging the use of equal-area map projections, including the Equal Earth projection, which is designed to preserve area more accurately than some widely used alternatives.

The campaign is aimed at reducing long-standing distortions that can make Africa appear smaller than it is on many classroom and reference maps. Supporters argue that more accurate mapping can influence how people understand geography, population, and global scale. The resolution is part of a broader push by African states and advocates to change international mapping practices.

SoftPower News reported the vote from the UN General Assembly, where member states expressed broad support for the initiative. In general, equal-area projections are already used in cartography and education, but the UN endorsement may help give the approach wider visibility and legitimacy in public institutions and teaching materials.

The development matters because maps shape public perception as well as technical understanding. A map projection is always a trade-off between different kinds of distortion, and the Equal Earth model is one of several modern efforts to present a more balanced view of the world’s landmass sizes.