United Nations adopts new map showing Africa larger
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The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a new world map that makes the African continent appear larger and shrinks North America and Europe.
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The nonbinding resolution piloted by Togo was aimed at adopting a more accurate representation of continental landmasses. While it was supported by 164 countries, including India, six countries abstained from voting. The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution.
The new map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, improves the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the continents. Created by a group of cartographers in 2018, the new map makes Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania appear much larger.
It replaces the 16th century Mercator projection, still the most widely used map in the world. It was devised by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to solve a maritime navigation problem. Because straight lines on his map correspond to constant compass directions, sailors could use it to plot their courses, the United Nations noted.
However, while preserving directions, landmasses closer to the poles appear increasingly enlarged than those near the equator. For example, Greenland looks roughly the same size as Africa, even though the latter is about 14 times larger.
The resolution passed on Friday said that the distortions in the Mercator projection...