Nigeria Joins 163 Nations at UN to Overturn Centuries of Map Distortion and Restore Africa's True Size

In a historic diplomatic shift at the United Nations General Assembly, Nigeria has joined 163 sovereign states to back an African-led resolution aimed at dismantling centuries of cartographic misrepresentation on world maps. The resolution, formally titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing global cartographic representation and promoting equitable representation of the world’s regions, particularly Africa,” passed decisively with 164 votes in favor, one against, and six abstentions.

For over four centuries, standard classroom cartography and global media have relied predominantly on the 1569 Mercator map projection. While originally designed for nautical navigation, the Mercator model drastically distorts spatial proportions by inflating landmasses near the poles—such as North America, Europe, and Greenland—while artificially shrinking equatorial regions. Consequently, Africa, which spans an immense 30 million square kilometers and ranks as the world's second-largest continent in both land area and population, has been consistently depicted as roughly the same size as Greenland, despite being nearly 14 times larger in reality.

Spearheaded by the African Union and formally negotiated by Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, the initiative highlights that world maps are not merely technical diagrams, but powerful socio-political tools that shape human perception. Addressing the UN Assembly, Dussey stressed:

“Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination and influence collective perceptions. A fair map does not change the geography of the world; it changes how we see the world.”

According to official voting records, the United States cast the sole opposing vote, maintaining that the General Assembly should focus on immediate security and humanitarian crises rather than geographic projections. Meanwhile, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine abstained. In contrast, France broke ranks with several Western peers to co-sponsor the measure, confirming plans to phase out Mercator projections across its national educational materials and official state maps.