Global News
Global News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now!
UN Votes to Fix Africa’s Size on Maps | Global News
- Published
- September 5, 2026
- Duration
- 2:02
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Sep 6, 2026
Discusses daily.
Summary
The UN just voted to replace the outdated Mercator map with a more accurate one that shows Africa’s true size—14 times bigger than Greenland! Backed by Togo and the African Union, 164 nations supported the change, including France and the UK—with only the U.S. voting no. Designed in 1569 for explorers, the old map distorts reality by stretching polar regi…
Intelligent Report
Sign in to read teasers, or upgrade to Research Pro to commission intelligent report for this episode. Learn more →
Show notes
The UN just voted to replace the outdated Mercator map with a more accurate one that shows Africa’s true size—14 times bigger than Greenland! Backed by Togo and the African Union, 164 nations supported the change, including France and the UK—with only the U.S. voting no. Designed in 1569 for explorers, the old map distorts reality by stretching polar regions and squishing equatorial ones, making mid-planet countries seem less significant. The new Equal Earth projection, adopted by the AU in 2018
Themes
- daily