UN vote to adopt new world map wey go show di true size of Africa

Side-by-side maps of Africa wey dey compare two map projections. Di Mercator projection for di left make Africa appear smaller compared to Europe to di north. Di Equal Earth projection for di right show longer, more proportionally accurate shape of di continent.
Wetin we call dis foto, Di Mercator projection na di map wey dem dey use well-well across di globe but di sizes of kontris and continent wey e dey show no correct.
    • Author, Thomas Mukhwana
    • Role, Africa correspondent
    • Author, Wycliffe Muia
  • Published
  • Read am in 4 mins

Di UN General Assembly don vote to replace di traditional world map wit anoda one wey dey correct well-well wey dey show di real size of Africa.

Di "Correct di Map" resolution, wey Togo sponsor and di African Union (AU) members support am, pass wit di support of 164 nations, including France and di UK.

Na only United States vote against am - and six kontris bin no dey

Di Mercator map, wey pipo dey use evriwia since di 16th Century, get plenti criticism as e show di size of Africa say e dey almost di same wit Greenland, even though e big pass Greenland 14 times.

Critics say e go lead to di development needs and potential for kontris wey dey near di equator to dey minimised.

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Dem bin design di Mercator map for 1569 by di Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to help European explorers move across di world.

Di informate wey no dey correct about im map na sake of di fact say e no dey possible to accurately represent di surface of a globe on a two-dimensional chart.

Anytime dem dey draw di map of di world, dem need to make compromise.

Di Mercator map dey show how di earth curve as e make kontris wey dey near di equator look smaller dan dia real size, and kontris wey dey near di poles go look bigger.

For dia effort to correct am, one team of cartographers for 2018 bin created an equal area map wey dem call di Equal Earth projection.

For February, di Africa Union 54 member states bin adopt am, dem say "e represent di sizes of all continents more accurately particularly Africa".

Ahead of di vote on Friday, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey tell Reuters news agency: "A fair world begin with a fair map."

Earlier im bin don tell one UN briefing: "A map no eva dey neutral. E dey shape perceptions, influence how pipo dey understand di place of pipo and continents for di world."

Di UN vote dey non-binding but e go see changes to di maps wey institutions around di world dey use.

Why Africa appear so small? Wen you compare di Mercator and Equal Earth map projections. Di top section explain say projections like Mercator scata land areas near di poles. Di markings show say Greenland appear as large as Africa for dis projection, despite say Greenland dey cover about 2.2 million square kilometres and Africa about 30.4 million square kilometres, wey be roughly 14 times more. Di lower section show di Equal Earth map projection, wey presents di relative sizes and shapes of continents wey dey more accurate, e make Africa appear substantially larger dan Greenland.