The UN Approves Changes to the World Map
If you are a fan of the U.S. show “West Wing”, you might remember the episode where the president’s press secretary, C.J., learned that countries are not where you think they are located on the world map. I encourage you to watch the video below from the iCenter for a refresher of the Mercator map and its impact:
For those who are interested in geography and geopolitics, watching this video can be cathartic as it exemplifies why maps are an important illustration of how we see other countries. This week, the United Nations passed a resolution called ““Correct the map”: rebalancing global cartographic representation and promoting equitable representation of the world’s regions, particularly Africa” with a vote of 164 member states in favour, with six abstentions and one decisive no.
The creator of the 1569 world map is Gerardus Mercator. He was a cartographer who designed a map that was flat so sailors could mark their journey while they were travelling. The sailing courses were drawn into straight lines that were based on the work of Portuguese and Spanish sailors during the Age of Discovery.
Up until the 21st century, many maps were still printed using the Mercator projection as the standard. The maps would be hung up in schools and international organisations as a representation of the world but for a cartographer who has never travelled, Mercator’s land mass proproportions were inaccurate. As you can see in the original map above, the northern portion of the world appears to be much larger than the southern half. While the original has the general idea of how the world is mapped out, it is remarkable that the dimensions have changed only slightly. Many maps today still show that Greenland and Africa are of comparable sizes, but there are some how have altered their cartography to closer resemble the true size. Google Maps announced in 2018 that the 3D Globe version shows the true size of the countries. It has taken over 450 years for the map to be scrutinized and the Equal Earth projection, created in 2018 by the cartographers Bojan Savric, Bernhard Jenny and Tom Patterson, intends to make the world map accurate.
The resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or require replacements. It encourages governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to implement the Equal Earth projection and other maps that use the equal-area projections. Using an equally proportioned map with relative size taken into consideration, a better understanding of how the world looks geographically provides more context of size. Many critics of the Mercator projection state that "Africa's misrepresentation on world maps is not just a cartographic error - it's a narrative issue," from Lerato Mogoatlhe from Africa No Filter. Before the General Assembly’s consideration of the draft resolution on “Correct the Map,” the foreign minister of Togo, Robbery Dussey said:
“A map is never neutral. It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood and may, sometimes from the earliest years of schooling, perpetuate representations that do not correspond to geographic reality.”
The vote at the United Nations was overwhelmingly positive as a majority of the member states voted in favor of the resolution. The one No vote came from the United States who stated that the “resolution mocks the work and purpose of this institution. While this initiative is presented as an anodyne effort to update cartographic proportions, the United States clearly sees it cannot be separated from the much larger and more radical ideological project it belongs to – as its most vocal and committed proponents plainly and openly state.” Being in the minority of the resolution means that the US is unable to stop other countries from deploying the corrected map to its institutions, but it also means that more American children are less likely to see the true size of the world.
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