On September 4, the UN General Assembly adopted the “Correct the Map” resolution submitted by Togo on behalf of the African Group, with 164 votes. The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatma Sarıaslan, a faculty member in the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Medeniyet University, said the resolution opens to debate the Western-centered perception embedded in world maps used for centuries and aims to promote alternative projections that reflect the size of continents more accurately.
The Mercator Projection distorts the size of landmasses
Developed in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator, the Mercator Projection makes landmasses at high latitudes appear larger than they are when transferring the spherical Earth onto a flat surface. Under this method, Europe, Russia and North America appear larger, while lower-latitude regions such as Africa remain relatively small.
Greenland, which is actually about 14 times smaller than Africa, appears on the map to be close to Africa in size, making it one of the best-known examples of this proportional distortion. Sarıaslan said this visual inequality reinforces a Western-centered perception through education and the media.
Türkiye supported the resolution
The resolution was submitted by Togo on behalf of the African Group with the support of the African Union. The text does not ban the use of the Mercator Projection; it recommends adopting and expanding the use of equal-area projections that represent landmasses more accurately, particularly the “Earth Equal” method.
Türkiye was among the countries that supported the resolution. Sarıaslan described this support as part of an approach aimed at correcting geographical distortions inherited from the colonial era and ensuring that African, Latin American and South Asian countries are represented on maps according to their actual size.
US called the resolution symbolic
The US mission argued that the resolution was a symbolic initiative that diverted attention from concrete issues such as international peace, prosperity and good relations among countries. Sarıaslan wrote that this position reflected, beyond the map debate, a disagreement over global diplomacy and the representative power of international institutions.
Six countries abstained from the vote, including Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Serbia. Sarıaslan interpreted these countries’ positions primarily through their strategic ties with the United States in the areas of security and foreign policy, rather than as a direct concern over borders; however, she noted that the UN records contain no official justification to that effect.
The resolution’s legal status
Because UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, the “Correct the Map” resolution does not require countries to use a specific map projection. Nevertheless, it has once again brought to the international agenda the historical debate over which perspective should be regarded as universal and accurate.
Sarıaslan also recalled that, in another UN General Assembly resolution submitted under Ghana’s leadership on March 25, 2026, which described the transatlantic slave trade as one of the gravest crimes against humanity, the United States voted against the measure alongside Israel and Argentina. That resolution was adopted with 123 votes, while three countries opposed it and 52 abstained.
