Letters: The transverse Mercator projection was created for European sailors – and it worked for their world, writes Paul Harwood ...

The Mercator map, which most of us grew up with, makes Africa look smaller and Greenland much larger than they are-but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The most widely used global map is almost 500 years old and was designed for navigation. But landmasses near the poles look ...

The process of converting a three-dimensional(3D) spherical globe into a two-dimensional(2D) flat surface creates a problem for the cartographer. A trade-off is required between the accuracy of ...

However, the Mercator map comes with the trade-off of showing inaccurate sizes for continents. Landmasses become artificially enlarged the farther they are from the Earth’s equator, which leads to ...

The UN has endorsed a new world map using the Equal Earth projection. See how the map compares and why Africa gains the most relative size.

Africa has long been represented as smaller than its real size in maps, which are largely based on an ancient projection.

The UN has passed a non-binding resolution to endorse the Equal Earth Projection, a map which more fairly represents the true ...

The United Nations voted on Saturday for a shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting the true size of countries. The resolution was sponsored by ...

The U.N. voted to promote map projections that more accurately represent the world, drawing official opposition from the U.S.

4 September 2026 | Culture and Education The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to encourage governments, schools and tech companies worldwide to stop using maps that make Africa look far ...

France is redrawing its world map: deeming the Mercator projection misleading, the foreign ministry will drop it in favour of a map that better reflects actual continental sizes, especially Africa. Vi ...