'Maps are not innocent drawings': Africa demands its true size be shown

[cbabe]

https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-08-20/maps-are-not-innocent-drawings-africa-demands-its-true-size-be-shown.html

‘Maps are not innocent drawings’: Africa demands its true size be shown

The African Union is pushing to end Mercator’s distortions and replace it with projections that reflect the continent’s real proportions

SILVIA LABOREO LONGÁSNACHO CATALÁN (GRÁFICOS)
Madrid - AUG 20, 2025 - 08:42 EDT

“A map is not just a technical tool, but a symbol, and symbols matter. For us, correcting the map also means correcting the global narrative about Africa,” says Fara Ndiaye, co-founder and deputy executive director of Speak Up Africa, one of the organizations behind Correct the Map. The African Union (AU) has just endorsed this initiative, which seeks to force governments, international organizations, and educational organizations to stop using the Mercator world map in favor of one that more accurately shows the size of Africa, which is minimized in the classic projection.

“It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” AU Commission deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told Reuters, saying the Mercator fostered the false impression that Africa was “marginal,” despite being the world’s second-largest continent by land area.

… more … colonialism…

[Mosby]

1. No one uses paper maps anymore.

It's kind of a moot issue now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Google Maps uses the Mercator projection too

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Accra,+Ghana/@22.4083205,1.3198997,13444160m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0xfdf9084b2b7a773:0xbed14ed8650e2dd3!8m2!3d5.5592846!4d-0.1974306!16zL20vMGZueWM?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgxNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Most maps on the web use a form that exaggerates the areas closer to the poles:

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=1c2c48b035966a68&udm=2&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIehZSPZtq-ywdxHK81a_1UWlQN69SKmEwbxp_WUDdFSSo97zcn8PIF07S15CNtiMZyxL9nrKdDxtNJyCpKsq1uD19nSAkaWswFc2egV_ifUcBCYH_dLJpjApZqiF-Zips-J5Jt5-9bJbVTLQMAkD1ril4Fwa9Sq5qqQmgBXD06S1ycUtECQ&q=%22world%22+%22map%22&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ5OjH5ZmPAxW7QUEAHZUyNP4QtKgLegQIExAB&biw=1592&bih=744&dpr=1

[cbabe]

3. Lots of paper maps. Plus online maps need the update also.

WorldOfMaps.com
https://www.worldofmaps.com
Shop WorldOfMaps.com - Wall Maps, Travel Books, Atlases & International ...
Buy wall maps, paper maps, maps of the earth, globes, travel books, trip guides, flags and flag poles, and more at WorldOfMaps.com! Maps of American and Canadian roads, towns, states and provinces.


Staples
https://www.staples.com › buy › paper-maps-0ahz31c
Paper Maps - Staples
Explore our extensive collection of paper maps at Staples. Perfect for travel enthusiasts and adventurers, find detailed maps to guide your journeys and enhance your exploration experience.


National Geographic Maps
https://www.natgeomaps.com
National Geographic Maps
National Geographic Maps makes the world's best wall maps, recreation maps, travel maps, atlases and globes for people to explore and understand the

… more …

[sakabatou]

4. FFS, there are projections other than Mercator

Such as AuthaGraphy and the Gall–Peters projection.

[msongs]

5. one suspecs mercaator maps were designed to help sailors find latitude and longitude, not as a deliberate insult nt

[petronius]

7. Yes, on a Mercator map every straight line is a true compass direction (constant bearing)

Very useful for navigation, historically. Also, all of the shapes are correct which perhaps is why it became popular as a classroom map.

[Wounded Bear]

8. The Mercator Projection predates longitude...

Back in the day, sailors could fairly accurately measure lattitude from the angle of the sun, moon, and stars and a good almanac. With that, they could sail north/south to the right latitude and sail directily west/east to their destination. Close enough to spot some landmarks and the rest could work by dead reckoning.

Until the invention of a time piece that could survive the motion of the sea and maintain accuracy, longitude was all guesswork.

The Mercator Projection did that rather well.

No flat map is perfect.

[LeftInTX]

6. Trump will leave Greenland alone, but will then push for Antarctica.