This is a quote from a BBC Korea article.
https://www.bbc.com/korean/articles/c2l8kdvny28o
The UN General Assembly voted to replace existing maps with world maps that more accurately reflect the size of Africa.
The 'Map Correction' resolution, proposed by Togo and supported by African Union (AU) member states, passed with 164 votes in favor, including France and the United Kingdom. The United States was the only country to vote against it, while six countries abstained.
Although this UN General Assembly vote is not legally binding, it is expected to lead to changes in world maps used by organizations around the globe.
The Mercator projection map, widely used since the 16th century, has been criticized for depicting Africa as being a similar size to Greenland. In reality, Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland.
This distortion has led to criticism that existing world maps may underestimate the development needs and potential of countries near the equator.
The Mercator projection was devised in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish mapmaker, to assist European explorers in navigating the world.
The distortion in the Mercator map arises from the fact that it is impossible to accurately represent the Earth's surface on a two-dimensional map. Some compromise is necessary when creating world maps.
The Mercator projection depicts countries closer to the equator as smaller than they actually are, and countries closer to the poles as larger than they actually are, thus representing the Earth's curvature.
To rectify this, a mapmaking team created an area-preserving map called 'Equal Earth' in 2018.
In February of last year, the 54 member states of the African Union adopted this map, stating that it "more accurately represents the size of all continents, particularly Africa."
The online campaign group 'CorrectTheMap' stated that "Africa is so large that even if you put the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and most of Europe inside it, there would still be land left over."
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https://x.com/BBCWorld/status/2095927579299488111
