Nigeria,​‌‍‍‍‍⁠⁠‌‍‌⁠​‍​‌⁠‌​ 163 countries to back UN resolution for larger Africa on world map

n n

President Tinubu

n

Nigeria has joined 163 other countries to endorse an African-led UN resolution seeking fairer world maps that accurately reflect Africa’s true geographical size.

n

The UN General Assembly adopted the historic “Correct the Map” resolution by 164 votes to one, with six abstentions.

n

The United States cast the sole opposing vote, while Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained.

n

The resolution is formally titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing global cartographic representation and promoting equitable representation of the world’s regions, particularly Africa.”

n

The African Union-backed campaign challenged centuries of cartographic representation that makes the African continent appear disproportionately small.

n

Africa covers approximately 30 million square kilometres and is the world’s second-largest continent by both land area and population.

n

However, advocates say conventional Mercator maps have historically presented the continent visually as considerably less imposing than its actual dimensions.

n

The vote enjoyed an overwhelming majority of UN members endorsing the continent’s demand for more accurate global geographical representation.

n

Togo led negotiations on behalf of the African Group, building on an AU-supported initiative that Africa needs to stop being represented as smaller than it actually is.

n

Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told the UN General Assembly that maps were not merely technical illustrations but powerful instruments influencing how people understand the world.

n

“Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination and influence collective perceptions,” Dussey said.

n

The resolution promotes wider use of the Equal Earth projection and other equal-area maps where accurate comparison of the relative sizes of continents and countries is important.

n

It describes the consequences as contributing to the “symbolic minimisation” of Africa and other regions in the global collective imagination.

n

“A fair map does not change the geography of the world; it changes how we see the world,” said, adding, “a fair world begins with a fair map.”

n

The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, seeks to preserve the relative area of countries and continents, thereby presenting Africa much closer to its actual scale.

n

Unlike Mercator, equal-area projections do not enlarge Africa; rather, they remove the artificial enlargement given to territories nearer the poles.

n

The United States strongly rejected the initiative, arguing that the General Assembly should focus on more pressing global challenges.

n

France, however, supported the resolution, announcing plans to move away from Mercator in its official world maps.

n

This would also make France, the United States, Russia and other northern countries appear

n n