Education

'Correct the Map'

AI SUMMARY

A UN General Assembly resolution to correct world maps highlights the inherent distortions present in every flat map of our round planet.

Standard classroom world maps severely distort landmass proportions, making Africa and Greenland appear equal in size despite Africa being fourteen times larger.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution titled 'Correct the Map' with 164 nations in favor, six abstentions, and one vote against from the United States.
Tabled by the African Union as part of a push to decolonize knowledge, the resolution encourages schools and tech companies to adopt alternatives like Equal Earth that preserve true continental scale.
It is mathematically impossible to flatten a sphere onto a plane without distorting either shapes or sizes, known as the cartographer's trade-off.
Gerardus Mercator created his 1569 projection to help sailors maintain straight compass bearings, not out of political bias.
A 2022 study in the journal Cartographica found that maps circulating in Ethiopian political discourse are often engineered to reinforce one-sided territorial narratives rather than provide neutral depictions.
Conventions such as placing north at the top or positioning the prime meridian in Greenwich are historical choices rather than geographic laws.