UN votes to adopt new world map that reflects Africa’s true size

The widely-used Mercator map is often criticised for visually exaggerating and centralising Western nations.The United Nations has voted to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects countries’ true sizes, a resolution sponsored by African states to right a centuries-old wrong.The “Correct the Map” resolution adopted by the UN general assembly on Friday aims to address a colonial-era injustice that has visually shrunk Africa for 450 years, shaping how the continent is perceived in media, education and policy around the world.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘US, China, India can all fit into Africa’: On a quest to fix the world maplist 2 of 3Apple changes name of Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ in maps applist 3 of 3Google Maps renames Lake Ontario after Trump’s decree on ‘Lake America’end of listThe resolution, put forward by African Union (AU) member states and the Bahamas, was backed by a vote of 164-1 with six abstentions.Togo led the AU’s campaign to limit use of the widely-used Mercator map.Developed in the 16th century by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator, the projection distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those nearer the poles. ...