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U.N. endorses map depicting Africa at true geographic scale; U.S. dissents

Confirmed1 source · Sep 4, 2026

The United Nations has backed a cartographic representation showing Africa's actual relative size, with the United States as the sole opposing member.

U.N. endorses map depicting Africa at true geographic scale; U.S. dissents
Image via NPR

What happened

The U.N. has backed a new map showing Africa in its true relative size. The United States stood alone in opposition.

Context

Standard map projections in common use have historically distorted Africa's size relative to other continents, typically rendering it smaller than its actual area. Adopting a map that corrects this distortion represents a shift in how the U.N. chooses to represent global geography in official contexts.