The record
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- The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, led by Togo and backed by the African Union, promoting map projections that show the relative sizes of countries and continents more accurately than the centuries-old Mercator projection.
- The resolution passed with 164 votes in favour, including India's, while the United States voted against it and six countries abstained.
- The Mercator projection, designed for navigation, greatly enlarges regions far from the Equator, making Greenland appear nearly the size of Africa, which is in fact about 14 times larger.
- The resolution is not legally binding, but it could influence the maps used in education, institutions and technology.
What to watch next
- Whether UN member states, including India, adopt projections like Equal Earth in schools and official publications
- How the US opposition and criticism of the resolution's framing affects follow-up UN discussions
- Ukraine's concerns about how Equal Earth maps depict Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories
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Named Togo · India · United States · Ukraine · Russia · African Union · Gerardus Mercator · Robert Dussey · United Nations General Assembly
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