United Nations votes to adopt new map that makes Africa appear bigger
The United Nations has voted to endorse a new map which would dramatically reshape how the world views itself.
For centuries the default global map as it appears two-dimensionally warped the way the world appeared.
The Equal Earth projection is a more accurate two-dimensional depiction of the world. Equal Earth
As a consequence, places closer to the North and South Poles looked far bigger than they were, and places near the equator looked far smaller.
One hundred and sixty-four member states voted in favour of the map, while the United States was the only country to vote no.
The United Nations does not have the power to choose what maps countries use, but its resolution endorsed a change internationally.
Why the dispute? The answer comes down to a simple geometric challenge - it is impossible to accurately project a curved 3D object on a flat surface.
Imagine you have an orange, RMIT Geospatial Sciences senior lecturer Amy Griffin told nine.com.au in January.
"Imagine you managed to take your peel off the orange only ripping at one place," she said.
"If you tried to flatten it, what would happen? You'd get more rips in it near the edge."
On a world map with the North Pole up top and the South Pole at the bottom, the distortions also happen at the edge.
The further north and further south you are on a flat map, the more stretched out it appears.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, which is situated right on the equator, is bigger than Greenland, though it doesn’t appear that way on the map.
The original Mercator projection was highly helpful for navigators at sea. Supplied
The current default map is called the Mercator Projection, designed by Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
"It was actually a really revolutionary projection for its time," Griffin said.
In the days before GPS, navigators could draw a line on a Mercator Projection map and get from point A to point B with just a compass bearing.
"It wouldn't be the shortest way of getting there. It would be a fairly significant detour, but you'd be sure that you'd get there," Griffin said.
"When faced with the choice of taking longer or being lost in the middle of the ocean - which one would you pick?"
Though at the time it was first drawn, Mercator did not know about Australia and instead drew a large blob where it was assumed another continent was.
Today’s resolution was sponsored by Togo, an African nation which has had its size substantially warped by the Mercator projection.
Togo Foreign Minister Robert Dussey argued that by shrinking the size of countries on the map, it diminished their perceived importance.
"This decision is about much more than cartography. It is about justice, dignity, equality and the way we represent our world," Dussey said after the UN vote.
For too long, inherited cartographic representations have distorted our perception of the true size and place of Africa and other regions of the world.
"Correcting the map means correcting the way we see the world."
Dussey thanked the member states that voted for the resolution.
"This is a victory for Africa, but above all, it is a victory for everyone who believes in a fairer, more balanced and more accurately represented world," Dussey said.
"History will remember this day as the moment when the international community chose to see the world with greater truth and fairness."
Togo proposed a map projection known as Equal Earth, which is on a curved edge rather than a rectangular map.
On the map, Russia, Canada and Greenland appear much smaller and Africa appears much bigger than on the Mercator Projection.
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