The African Union has thrown its weight behind a growing campaign to end the use of the 16th-century Mercator map, urging governments and international organisations to adopt more accurate projections that reflect Africa’s true size.

Originally designed by cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigation, the map significantly distorts the scale of continents, inflating regions near the poles such as North America and Greenland while reducing the size of Africa and South America.

Speaking to reporters, African Union Commission deputy chair Selma Malika Haddadi said the map created a misleading perception of Africa’s importance. “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” Haddadi stated. She added that the Mercator projection left Africa looking “marginal”, despite being the world’s second-largest continent with over one billion people.

Haddadi argued that such portrayals had long-term consequences, influencing global media, education and policymaking. She confirmed that the AU’s 55 member states would push for alternatives that present Africa more fairly, aligning with its mission of “reclaiming Africa’s rightful place on the global stage” amid mounting calls for reparations for slavery and colonialism.

The renewed debate has been reignited by the Correct the Map campaign, led by advocacy groups Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, which champions the Equal Earth projection created in 2018. The projection aims to reflect countries’ true sizes and correct centuries of geographic distortion.

“The current size of the map of Africa is wrong,” said Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter. “It’s the world’s longest misinformation and disinformation campaign, and it just simply has to stop.”

Fara Ndiaye, co-founder of Speak Up Africa, stressed that the Mercator map damages Africans’ identity and pride, especially among children first exposed to it in classrooms.

“We’re actively working on promoting a curriculum where the Equal Earth projection will be the main standard across all [African] classrooms,” Ndiaye explained. She expressed hope that global institutions, including those based in Africa, would adopt it as well.

The campaign Is also calling on international organisations such as the UN and the World Bank to replace the Mercator projection. A World Bank spokesperson said the organisation already used the Winkel tripel or Equal Earth projections for static maps and was phasing out Mercator from its web platforms. The group confirmed it had also submitted a formal request to the UN geospatial body, UN-GGIM.

A UN spokesperson noted the proposal would undergo review and require expert committee approval.

Other regions have rallied in support of the AU’s stance. Dorbrene O’Marde, vice-chair of the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission, described the Equal Earth projection as a rejection of what he called the Mercator map’s “ideology of power and dominance.”

Although Google Maps replaced Mercator with a 3D globe view on its desktop platform in 2018, the mobile application still defaults to the traditional projection. Campaigners insist that unless the Equal Earth projection becomes the global standard, Africa and other southern continents will continue to be unfairly diminished in the world’s imagination. (AriseNews TV)