For decades, people around the world have grown familiar with maps that make Africa look smaller than it actually is.
A United Nations resolution adopted in September 2026 has renewed attention on that distortion and on the way different map projections shape how people see the world.
Dr Nisa Ayob, a senior lecturer in geography at North-West University, says the issue is not simply about correcting Africa’s apparent size. It is also about understanding what maps show, what they distort and why a particular projection is chosen.
The Mercator projection, which dates to the 16th century, was developed largely for navigation. Its ability to preserve direction made it useful to sailors.
But it does not preserve the actual size of land masses. Areas closer to the poles appear increasingly enlarged, while regions near the Equator are less affected.
Africa lies largely around the Equator, meaning it receives far less visual enlargement than Europe, North America and Greenland. South America is also shown smaller than its true area when compared with regions farther north.
“The problem is not that the Mercator projection is technically ‘wrong’; the problem is that it has been used far beyond the purpose for which it was designed,” Ayob says.
Greenland illustrates the effect clearly. On a Mercator map, it can look roughly comparable to Africa. In reality, Africa is about 14 times larger.
Maps do more than locate places
The argument over map projections is also an argument about perception.
“Maps are not only technical products; they are also powerful communication tools,” Ayob says.
When people look at a world map, they generally do not calculate the actual area of each continent. They take in the visual representation. Over time, repeated exposure to the same distortion can influence how they perceive the size and geographical significance of different parts of the world.
The UN resolution has focused attention on equal-area projections, including Equal Earth. Developed in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Bernhard Jenny and Tom Patterson, Equal Earth is designed to preserve the relative area of land masses.
The “Correct the Map” resolution was sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union members, according to the supplied material. It passed with 164 countries supporting it, including France and the United Kingdom. The United States voted against the resolution, while six countries abstained.
The African Union’s 54 member states had accepted the Equal Earth map in February 2026, the material says.
“Africa is not being ‘made bigger’ through these projections; rather, its size is being represented proportionally in relation to the rest of the world,” Ayob says.
Choosing the right projection
There is no single world map that can accurately preserve every geographical property.
Because the Earth is spherical and maps are generally displayed on flat surfaces, some form of distortion is unavoidable. Different projections can preserve area, shape, distance or direction, but they cannot preserve all of those properties at once.
Ayob says that means cartographers should choose projections according to what a map is intended to do rather than simply using a familiar projection out of habit.
She also sees the debate as an opportunity for schools and universities in South Africa to examine the maps used in classrooms.
Students could compare Mercator and equal-area projections and observe how the apparent sizes of Africa, Europe, North America and Greenland change. The exercise could help them understand that a map is a representation of geographical reality, not a perfect reproduction of the Earth.
Ayob teaches geographical information systems and spatial analysis to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her work includes helping students understand how spatial data, cartographic choices and map projections affect the way geographical information is interpreted.
“We should not simply replace one wall map with another without explanation,” she says.
The aim, she says, should instead be to teach students to examine the maps they use and ask what each projection preserves, what it distorts and whether it is appropriate for the question they are trying to answer.
