US opposes UN resolution to correct Africa's size on world maps
thehill.com
The U.S. was the sole nation to oppose the U.N.'s "Correct the Map" initiative to encourage equal-area projection.

The U.S. was the only country to not support a United Nations resolution adjusting the appearance of Africa and other regions on world maps.

The body passed the “Correct the Map” initiative by a margin of 164 to one, with six nations abstaining from the vote.

The resolution, which was introduced by the West African country Togo, does not require the abandonment of the long-used Mercator projection. It instead encourages the use of equal-area projections that more accurately depict relative country sizes.

Yaryna Ferencevych, the deputy U.S. representative to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, said in a statement explaining the U.S.’s vote that this measure, “mocks the work and purpose of this institution.”

“Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th century, and their role in promoting reparations and ‘cognitive justice,’” she said.

  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
    11·
    8 hours ago

    There is a weird narrative where people pretend like there’s some conspiracy to make countries near the equator appear smaller on maps.

    The reality is the Mercator projection was made for navigation purposes. The world is round and there is no projection of a globe on a 2D surface that will ever be accurate. No one is trying to kick people down by choosing one projection over the other because none of them are going to be accurate. All maps are made with the general assumption that people understand the world is actually round and they should account for that. This kind of debate edges on flat earth kinds of silliness where people are being deliberately ignorant about how maps work in favour of dumb conspiracy theories.

    Sure it’s probably not worth opposing, but it’s also a bunch of silliness that isn’t worth proposing either. It is a sign the UN is disconnected from the actual problems of the world when they’re worried about fucking map projections. Is it going to be international law that we can’t use the Mercator maps for navigation, which is what they’re designed for? Does the UN even understand that for some people a map isn’t just a decoration to be put on a wall, but something that has a purpose?