Countries Express Unease Over Proposed New United Nations Map

UN General Assembly Votes to Encourage New World Map Projection

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favor of encouraging the use of new world maps that more accurately depict continents with their true sizes. The resolution, which was adopted by 164 countries and six abstentions, promotes the Equal Earth projection over the current Mercator projection.

The move follows months of lobbying by the African Union, which also adopted a new map earlier this year. The United States was the only country to oppose the resolution, with its representative stating that it undermines the credibility of the institution.

Several countries have expressed concerns about the changes, including India, Ukraine, and Japan. While they are not opposed to adopting a new projection, they are raising issues about how disputed territories should be depicted on the map.

The Equal Earth projection was created by three researchers in 2018 and attempts to show a three-dimensional globe on a two-dimensional surface. This results in countries closer to the poles appearing larger than those at the equator. The Mercator projection, which has been widely used for decades, disproportionately shrinks the size of developing regions such as Africa.

The new map is intended to correct this issue and provide a more accurate representation of the world’s continents. However, some countries have raised concerns about how certain territories should be depicted on the map. For example, Ukraine has complained that the Equal Earth projection depicts its Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula in a distinctly lighter shade than mainland Ukraine.

The resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or impose a particular replacement, but rather encourages nations to adopt the Equal Earth version. The UN has endorsed this approach, which is seen as a step towards providing a more accurate representation of the world’s geography.

Source: Al Jazeera