Redraw world map ‘to show greatness of Africa’, demand nationsBen Farmer
The TelegraphSun, August 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT
3 min read
African nations are calling for the world map to be redrawn to show the “greatness of the continent”.
The African Union has said most maps skew the size of land masses, making Africa seem much smaller compared with other countries and continents.
The 55-nation bloc has thrown its weight behind campaigners who argue that the distortion leads to a downplaying of the scale and importance of the continent, as well as making America and Europe look larger than they are.
The Mercator projection, which has been in use since the 16th century and is one of the world’s most common maps, makes Africa look comparatively small as it inflates land masses further from the equator.
That means that Greenland looks almost the same size as Africa when, in reality, it is smaller than the Arabian Peninsula. Africa is 14 times larger.
The African Union is backing the Correct the Map campaign to promote the 2018 “Equal Earth” projection as an alternative, because it “shows the continent as it really is: vast, powerful, and central to our world”.
Campaigners want this map to be used by international bodies like the United Nations, as well as in classrooms and in the media.
The campaign says: “In a world where size is often equated with power, misrepresenting Africa’s true scale reinforces harmful misconceptions about its geopolitical and economic significance.
“You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare.
“Yet, most of the world continues to favour this distorted [Mercator] map, misrepresenting Africa’s scale and diminishing its significance.”
The African Union believes that adopting a map to better show the size of the continent will give Africans and those around the world a greater idea of its importance.
One official said: “If Africa is seen in its true size, I think from a continental perspective, Africans will be able to see the greatness of the continent and be able to see how vast it is.”
It also believes that the move would give the international community a better insight into the trade and transport difficulties that the continent’s enormous distances pose.
Age-old map-making problemNick Millea, a map curator at Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, said all maps produced distortions because it was impossible to accurately plot a globe onto a flat surface.
The Mercator projection was introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator, the Flemish cartographer. It went on to be widely adopted because it was good for navigation, with a straight line on the map meaning a straight course in the real world.
A form of the map has gone on to be the standard for online mapping. However, the Mercator was poor for showing the relative sizes of landmasses.
Mr Millea said: “It’s the age-old problem of trying to project a spherical object onto a flat surface: you can’t do it. Something has got to give to come up with an image.
“When it comes to area, [the Mercator projection] doesn’t work. When it comes to direction, it does.”
Such trade-offs in making maps mean that the Equal Earth projection has its own flaws and warps the shape of continents even if it accurately reflects surface area.
Organisations like Nasa and the World Bank said they have already adopted the Equal Earth map for some uses.
Jervin Naidoo, a political analyst at Oxford Analytics, said: “The distorted representation of Africa’s size could lead to an underestimation of the continent’s vast economic potential.
“By accurately depicting Africa’s true scale, the campaign aims to reshape global perceptions, encouraging more informed investment decisions.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/redraw-world-map-show-greatness-100000668.html
New SMAC quizzes available.
