An old geopolitical distortion corrected

The UN's decision to adopt 'Equal Earth projection' is an important corrective. For centuries, the Mercator projection - designed for 16th-c. navigation - has warped the world's proportions, inflating Europe and North America while shrinking Africa, Latin America and South Asia.

Greenland, absurdly, has loomed as large as Africa, though Africa is 14x bigger. Such distortions aren't innocent - they reinforce colonial hierarchies, embedding a world view in which the 'global south' appears peripheral, diminished and less consequential.

Read more: Uday Kotak calls US plan to 'rent' Hormuz as return to colonialism


The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, restores proportionality. Africa regains its true immensity, Latin America stretches to its rightful breadth, and Europe shrinks to scale. By urging its adoption in education, media and official use, the UN is correcting a centuries-long misrepresentation that has seeped into politics, economics and culture.

Representation matters. Just as parliaments, films and textbooks shape identity, maps are mirrors of self-perception. A continent consistently drawn smaller than it is risks internalising inferiority, much like the old, symbolically-loaded description of Africa as the 'dark continent'. Perception bleeds into aid, investment and diplomacy.

Read more: Narco-colonialism: How Britain exploited Indians for its drug trade with China

Such symbolism is profound. In classrooms, the new map will recalibrate how billions imagine the world. Over time, such subtle shifts in perception can influence policy, trade and respect. The US' lone opposition - Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine abstained - was telling.

Washington argued the UN should focus on 'pressing issues'. But maps are not neutral. To dismiss reform is to defend distortion. Equal Earth projection reminds us that every act of representation shapes dignity and power.