US EditionCampaigners Want to Change World Map to Show Africa Is Bigger
The African Union endorses a campaign highlighting Africa's true size, advocating for the Equal Earth map to correct distortions caused by the outdated 16th-century Mercator projection.
- On August 14, 2025, the African Union endorsed the Correct the Map campaign, backing the 55-member AU's push to revise how Africa is shown on world maps.
- Created in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator, the Mercator projection was designed for 16th-century navigation and enlarges landmasses away from the equator, skewing continental proportions for over 450 years.
- By showing how landmasses fit inside Africa, the continent covers 30 million square kilometres, dwarfing Greenland which is only one-fourteenth its size; NASA, World Bank, and National Geographic use the Equal Earth map.
- Campaigners have filed a request to UN-GGIM to reshape global perceptions by correcting maps, as AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi said, `It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not`.
- Critics caution that no flat map perfectly represents the globe and alternative projections also distort, while campaigners say Mercator projection and colonial-era design reinforced Eurocentric views, Bodleian Libraries map curator Nick Millea and professor Mark Monmonier note.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?
12 Articles
12 Articles
Africa is fourteen times the size of Greenland and is home to almost all European countries, plus the United States, Japan, Mexico and China.
What's wrong with Africa's map? Does it concern India too?
The African Union has intensified a campaign for the use of the "right map of Africa". In the widely used Mercator map, Africa appears smaller than it is. In a bid to depict the continent's relative size accurately, African leaders are challenging the outdated colonial perspectives for fairer perceptions in education, media, and policy. Should India, which is also depicted smaller than it is, take it up?
·India
Read Full Article
Campaigners want to change world map to show Africa is bigger
·Cleveland, United States
Read Full Article
Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution43% Center
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources are Center
43% Center
L 29%
C 43%
R 29%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
