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The UN General Assembly adopted the Correct the Map resolution on 4 September 2026 by 164 votes to one, with six abstentions.
Togo introduced it on behalf of the African Group, the 54 African member states at the UN, with African Union backing.
The United States was the only country to vote against; Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine abstained.
The resolution encourages equal-area projections such as Equal Earth in place of the Mercator projection, but is not legally binding.
India voted in favour and clarified that its support was for equal-area projections generally, not the Equal Earth projection alone.
| Feature | Mercator projection | Equal Earth projection |
|---|---|---|
| Year devised | 1569, by Gerardus Mercator | 2018, by Bojan Savric, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny |
| Type | Conformal: preserves angles and local shapes | Equal-area pseudocylindrical: preserves relative areas |
| Original purpose | Marine navigation, since a straight line is a constant compass bearing | General-purpose world maps showing continents in true proportion |
| Main weakness | Grossly inflates landmasses near the poles | Distorts shapes, especially towards the map edges |
| Effect on Africa | Appears roughly the same size as Greenland | Appears about 14 times Greenland, its true relative size |
The UN's main deliberative organ where all member states have one vote each; its resolutions carry political weight but are not legally binding
Continental body that backed the resolution and had earlier endorsed the Equal Earth projection through the Correct the Map campaign
GS Paper II > International Institutions; GS Paper I > Geography: Maps and Projections
General Awareness > International Organisations and World Geography
Consider the following statements: 1. The Nuclear Security Summits are periodically held under the aegis of the United Nations. 2. The International Panel on Fissile Materials is an organ of International Atomic Energy Agency. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: Neither 1 nor 2
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action', often seen in the news, is
Answer: an agenda for women's empowerment, an outcome of a World Conference convened by the United Nations
A method of representing the curved surface of the Earth on a flat plane; every projection distorts area, shape, distance or direction.
A projection that preserves local angles and shapes, such as Mercator, at the cost of badly distorting area away from the equator.
A projection that preserves relative areas so continents appear in true proportion, such as Equal Earth, at the cost of distorting shapes.