Thursday, November 27, 2025

Correct the map: why the Mercator world map must be put to rest

Historic map and instruments.
Photo: Shutterstock

From Democracy without borders by Olivia Gauvin

When you imagine a world map, what do you see? Is it the expansive oceans, the intricate coastlines, or the seemingly infinite land masses of Russia and Greenland? If you’re like most people, you probably know the Mercator projection — one of the most popular world maps used for educational and commercial purposes.
Though, what most people don’t realize is that this same world map studied in schools and displayed across the globe is startlingly wrong.
Due to the Mercator projection’s distortions, the world map as you imagine it may be entirely mistaken.


In an effort to address these distortions, Africa No Filter and SpeakUpAfrica launched the Correct The Map campaign one year ago to promote the use of a more proportional and equitable world map.
Their campaign calls on international organizations, corporations, and global citizens to retire the Mercator projection due to its misrepresentation of Africa’s true size.
And while such critiques against the Mercator projection have been raised for decades, the Correct The Map petition’s newest endorser is pushing for a change: the African Union.

In August, the AU Commission deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi spoke to Reuters about the pressing need for the globally standardized use of a world map projection that more accurately depicts the African continent.
The African Union, Africa No Filter, and SpeakUpAfrica are thus reviving global awareness surrounding the Mercator projection’s distortions and its global consequences.
By promoting a proposed alternative map — the Equal Earth projection — the Correct The Map campaign is working to transform distorted perceptions of the African continent’s place in the world.

Mapping the distortions

In 1569, a German cartographer by the name of Gerarus Mercator published a ground-breaking world map projection.
The Mercator projection signaled a major breakthrough in nautical navigation because it preserved accurate angles for sailors, despite distorting the relative size of landmasses closer to the poles.
By the early 19th century, after innovations in marine shipping, the map projection swiftly grew in popularity alongside the expansion of global imperialism, trade, and migration.
Ultimately, the Mercator projection became the standard commercial and educational map across the globe, reifying an inaccurate physical image of our world.
 
An example of the Mercator projection, which enlarges regions near the poles.

For example, the Mercator projection depicts the landmass of Greenland to be relatively equal in size to the African continent, but Africa in reality is 14 times larger.
The Arabian Peninsula, with an area of approximately 3.2 million sq km is depicted as a similar size to Brazil, with 8.36 million sq km.
Land masses which are further from the equator appear especially distorted, therefore having an unintentional proportional ‘shrinking’ effect on Africa and other areas.

Mapping the Earth’s three-dimensional surface onto a two-dimensional page will always include distortions.
A handful of maps have been developed over the years to directly address and correct Mercator’s distortions, such as the Galls-Peters projection and the Robinson projection, both of which also contain some shaping distortions.
However, the Equal Earth projection, published in 2018, successfully depicts “developing countries in the tropics and developed countries in the north with correctly proportioned sizes” in a visually pleasing manner.
This new map, according to the contributing scientists, is both a humanitarian cause and a scientifically well-balanced projection.


An example of the Equal Earth projection which is designed to show landmasses in their true proportions.
Image: Wikimedia/Daniel R. Strebe

In addition to being equal-area throughout, the Equal Earth projection aligns with the mission of international activist networks in promoting greater fairness and integrity in the social sciences across the world.
For example, with over 3,700 signatories on their own website, Correct The Map is petitioning for the United Nations and the BBC to “adopt the Equal Earth projection in their data, reports, and materials that include world maps.” As it stands today, neither organization uses a proscribed map projection.
According to the United Nations’ Geospatial Network, the UN most frequently uses the Robinson projection due to its proportionality and fairness.
The BBC Sound recently produced a podcast episode exploring their corporation’s usage of the Mercator projection.
Further, while endorsing the Equal Earth projection themselves, it’s unclear as to whether the African Union has yet adopted it as their official map projection.

Promoting an Equal Earth

In light of these growing global movements advocating for the distribution and application of the Equal Earth projection, it is necessary to consider how any world map can meaningfully address the bias and exploitation that the African continent has borne.
Nonetheless, there is no question that distorted maps, like the Mercator projection, significantly muddle our capacity for adequately understanding land mass, environmental resources, borders and security, infrastructure, geopolitics and societies — particularly impacting perceptions and biases towards the Global South.

Thus, what is most significant about the mission of the Correct The Map campaign is not merely the corrected distortions, but the broader educational component.
Incorporating the Equal Earth projection into schools and educational initiatives across the world will empower students to finally envision their shared world in its real proportions.
In promoting the use of a more equitable and accurate map projection, the Correct The Map campaign continues to foster global citizenship perspectives and strengthen education worldwide.

For some, the continued use of the Mercator map reinforces the histories and legacies of exploitation and marginalization of the Global South.
By petitioning governing bodies and organizations to adopt the Equal Earth projection, Africa No Filter and SpeakUpAfrica are working together to decolonize the global depiction of physical space.
With the weight of the African Union behind them, the Correct The Map campaign is reigniting an international discussion about our most fundamental perceptions of size and space.
 
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