What the Mercator Map Is and Why Over 50 African Countries Want It Gone

What Is the Mercator Map?

The Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in the 16th century, was designed for sea navigation. While it kept compass directions accurate, reports suggest it drastically distorted the relative sizes of continents — inflating areas near the poles, like Greenland and Europe, all while shrinking Africa and South America around the same time, according to a report published by news agency Reuters.

Despite its flaws, the Mercator Map is still widely used in schools, across tech platforms like Google Maps (especially on mobile), and by international organisations.

The African Union Joins the Call for Change

The African Union (AU), representing 55 member states, is now officially backing calls to ditch the Mercator map in favour of a more accurate one, Reuters reported on Friday.

“It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not, deputy chair of the African Union Commission Selma Malika Haddadi said in a statement to the news agency.

Haddadi further said the Mercator projection feeds a false perception of Africa as “marginal”, despite it being the world’s second-largest continent and home to more than a billion people.

The Equal Earth Alternative

At the heart of the movement is the Correct the Map campaign, led by advocacy groups Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, which urges adoption of the Equal Earth projection. Developed in 2018, Equal Earth, the group insists, has been designed to reflect the actual size of countries and continents.

“The current size of the map of Africa is wrong,” Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, told Reuters, adding that its’s the world’s “longest misinformation and disinformation campaign.”

Stressinbg on the impact on children’s identity and self-worth, Fara Ndiaye, co-founder of Speak Up Africa, told the publication, “We are actively working on promoting a curriculum where the Equal Earth projection will be the main standard across all [African] classrooms.”

Calls For An Institutional Change

The AU, for its part, has said this push aligns with its wider efforts to “reclaim Africa’s rightful place on the global stage,” especially amid growing calls for reparations over colonialism and slavery.

Global institutions Responding Slowly 

A World Bank spokesperson told the US-based news agency that it uses Winkel tripel or Equal Earth for static maps and is phasing out Mercator in web-based maps. According to the report, a request has also been sent to the UN’s geospatial body, where it’s now under expert review.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean is also reportedly backing Equal Earth as Reparations Commission’s vice-chairperson Dorbrene O’Marde Caricom called Mercator a reflection of “the ideology of power and dominance.”

The coalition says it will push for wider adoption of Equal Earth among member states and global institutions, starting with education and official communications.