African Union backs campaign to replace distorted Mercator map with accurate projection

The African Union (AU) has endorsed a campaign urging governments and international organisations to replace the centuries-old Mercator world map with a projection that more accurately reflects Africa’s size.

The Mercator projection, created in the 16th century by cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigation, distorts the relative sizes of continents, enlarging regions near the poles, such as North America and Greenland, while shrinking Africa and South America, Caliber.Az reports via CNN. 

“It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” AU Commission deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told Reuters. She said the Mercator map fosters a false impression that Africa is “marginal,” despite being the world’s second-largest continent, home to over a billion people across 55 member states.

Critics argue these distortions influence media, education, and global policy. The debate has been revitalised by the Correct The Map campaign, led by advocacy groups Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa. The campaign promotes the 2018 Equal Earth projection, which aims to depict countries more accurately in terms of size.

“The current size of the map of Africa is wrong,” said Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter. “It’s the world’s longest misinformation and disinformation campaign, and it just simply has to stop.”

Fara Ndiaye, co-founder of Speak Up Africa, emphasised the impact on African identity and pride, particularly for children exposed to the Mercator projection in schools. 

“We’re actively working on promoting a curriculum where the Equal Earth projection will be the main standard across all (African) classrooms,” Ndiaye said, adding she hoped it would also be the one used by global institutions, including Africa-based ones.

Haddadi said the AU’s endorsement aligns with broader goals of “reclaiming Africa’s rightful place on the global stage,” amid growing calls for reparations for colonialism and slavery. The AU plans to advocate for wider adoption of the Equal Earth projection and to discuss coordinated action with its member states.

The Mercator projection remains widely used in education and by tech companies. Google Maps, for instance, switched from Mercator on desktop to a 3D globe view in 2018, though users can still select the Mercator view. On mobile, however, Mercator remains the default.

The "Correct The Map" campaign is pressing organisations such as the World Bank and United Nations to adopt the Equal Earth projection. A World Bank spokesperson said the institution already uses the Winkel-Tripel or Equal Earth projections for static maps and is phasing out Mercator for web maps. The UN confirmed it has received a request from the campaign, which will undergo review by a committee of experts.

Support for the initiative has also emerged beyond Africa. Dorbrene O’Marde, Vice Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, endorsed Equal Earth as a rejection of the Mercator map’s “ideology of power and dominance.”

By Sabina Mammadli