African Union Backs Campaign To Redraw World Map With Accurate African Scale.
The African Union (AU) has endorsed a transformative campaign to replace the 16th-century Mercator map, which significantly distorts Africa’s true size, with the Equal Earth projection. Announced on 14 August 2025, the initiative, led by advocacy groups Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, seeks to ensure that governments, schools, and international organisations adopt maps that accurately reflect the continent’s vast scale and global significance.
The Mercator projection, designed by cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 for maritime navigation, inflates the size of landmasses near the poles, such as North America and Greenland, while shrinking equatorial regions like Africa and South America. This distortion has long misrepresented Africa, the world’s second-largest continent, home to 54 nations and over 1.4 billion people. AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told Reuters, “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” highlighting how the Mercator map fosters a false perception of Africa as “marginal” despite its immense geographical and cultural weight.
The ‘Correct The Map’ campaign, spearheaded by Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, promotes the 2018 Equal Earth projection, which offers a more accurate depiction of continental sizes. Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, described the Mercator map as “the world’s longest misinformation and disinformation campaign,” urging its replacement to restore fairness in global representation. Fara Ndiaye, co-founder of Speak Up Africa, emphasised the impact on African identity, particularly for children encountering distorted maps in schools, and called for the Equal Earth projection to become the standard in African classrooms and beyond.
The AU’s support aligns with its broader mission to reclaim Africa’s rightful place on the global stage, amid growing calls for reparations for colonialism and slavery. Haddadi confirmed the AU will advocate for widespread adoption of the Equal Earth map and collaborate with member states to implement collective actions. The campaign has also garnered support from other regions, with Dorbrene O’Marde, Vice Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, endorsing the Equal Earth projection as a rejection of the Mercator’s “ideology of power and dominance”.
While the Mercator map remains prevalent in education and technology, progress is underway. The World Bank has already adopted the Equal Earth or Winkel-Tripel projections for static maps and is phasing out Mercator on web platforms. The campaign has also submitted a request to the UN’s geospatial body, UN-GGIM, for review. Google Maps transitioned to a 3D globe view on desktop in 2018, though the Mercator projection persists as the default on mobile apps.
This AU-backed initiative marks a significant step towards correcting centuries-old cartographic distortions, fostering pride in Africa’s true scale, and reshaping global perceptions of the continent’s vital role in the world.
