The African Union (AU) has joined a growing movement to end the use of the Mercator projection, a map that inaccurately represents the size of the African continent. Gerardus Mercator developed this projection in the 16th century with navigation in mind. Its design severely manipulates landmasses. This distortion especially impacts countries around the equator, such as Africa and South America, making them look disproportionately smaller than countries closer to the poles.
The Mercator projection distorts the map by expanding the size of places like North America and Greenland, while minimizing Africa’s true scale. Yet this misrepresentation goes further than geography. It robs the identity and pride of Africans—with a particular impact on children. Read more on this topic. AU’s top voices have repeatedly raised alarm on the dangerous effect on culture at large.
In her TedTalk, Fara Ndiaye pointed out the deep impact that the Mercator projection has had on Africans’ sense of identity and pride. “Reclaiming Africa’s rightful place on the global stage,” said Selma Malika Haddadi, an advocate for the campaign. This feeling is indicative of a broader frustration with prevailing historical narratives that downplay the continent’s importance.
The AU has formally adopted the “Correct the Map” campaign. This campaign encourages using the Equal Earth map as a better, more representative way to show the world’s geography. So far this initiative has received the support of all 55 AU’s member states. Moky Makura stated, “The current size of the map of Africa is wrong,” reinforcing the need for a change that reflects the continent’s true proportions.
Dorbrene O’Marde speaks passionately at the book launch for the Equal Earth map. He calls the Mercator projection an “ideology of power and dominance.” He argued that this now-primitive portrayal continues to fuel stereotypes and misunderstanding about Africa and Africans. The Equal Earth map provides an equitable portrayal of all continents. First of all, it’s a wonderful representation of Africa, particularly in visually demonstrating its enormous size and importance.
Despite these calls for change, widely used platforms like Google Maps continue to utilize the Mercator projection as their default mapping system. This dependence on a misleading and harmful picture creates significant obstacles for advocates and policymakers seeking a more equitable reflection of our geographic realities.