The United Nations General Assembly has backed the Equal Earth map projection to better reflect the true size of continents, a move opposed by the United States, which accused the body of focusing on symbolic issues instead of pressing global challenges.

This handout graphic provided by Equal Earth shows the Equal Earth cartographic projection. The United Nations General Assembly voted on September 4, 2026, to back a resolution spearheaded by several African countries to adopt a map that makes their continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe. (Photo by HANDOUT / EQUAL EARTH / AFP

The United Nations General Assembly voted Friday to adopt a new world map that makes the African continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe, drawing ire from Washington.

Aimed at “a more accurate representation” of continental landmasses, the resolution was supported by 164 countries while the United States voted against it and six other states abstained.

The new map — known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection — improves “the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world,” the resolution said.

It urges member states to use the new map in place of the traditional Mercator projection, which was designed for maritime navigation by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.

Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, which sponsored the resolution, said maps “guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”

“They are therefore never neutral; when they present a distorted image of our planet, they risk perpetuating inaccurate representation that is passed down through generations.”

The United States however, slammed the resolution, saying such moves are “the reason this institution is losing its credibility.”

“Instead of focusing on genuine problems… this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice,” US representative Yaryna Ferencevych said ahead of the vote.

‘Distorted representation’

The Mercator projection focused on accurate depictions of the shapes and angles of land masses, but their relative sizes were often inaccurate — largely due to the challenge of rendering a three-dimensional globe onto a two-dimensional map.

It inflated northern regions and compressed equatorial ones, making Europe and North America appear much larger, while shrinking Africa and South America.

A group of cartographers launched the Equal Earth projection in 2018. It makes Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania appear much larger.

“Equal Earth preserves the relative surface areas of continents and, as much as possible, shows their shapes as they appear on a globe,” one of the cartographers, Bojan Savric, told AFP in 2025.

France — which co-sponsored the resolution in support of the new map — announced Friday that it would abandon the Mercator projection.

In that map, “the United States, Russia and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America or southeast Asia,” while “Greenland appears almost as big as Africa,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

“Changing maps obviously doesn’t change the world,” he said. “But correcting a distorted representation is already an act of truth.”

The initiative comes as France is seeking to improve relations with Africa, particularly in former colonies with which it has prickly ties.