What Different World Maps Get Right - and What They Get Wrong
By Jaroslav Lukiv
Published 26 minutes ago
The UN has called for a new predominant world map to be adopted, aiming to rectify the inaccuracies of the widely-used Mercator projection. The "Correct the Map" resolution seeks to address the distortion where Africa is depicted as roughly the same size as Greenland, despite its actual landmass being about 14 times larger.
In its place, the Equal Earth projection is proposed, offering a more accurate representation of landmasses but with its own limitations.
A Historical Perspective: Mercator Map
The familiar Mercator map, created in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator, has been a staple for navigation since its inception. Its primary purpose was to assist European sailors navigating the oceans, as explained by cartography Professor James Cheshire at University London College:
"He wanted a straight line to be drawn on a map to look like a straight line in reality if you followed a compass bearing. That was what it was intended to do, and that's what it does brilliantly well."
Mercator's design accommodates for the Earth's curvature by shrinking countries closer to the equator and stretching them near the poles, maintaining precise angles crucial for navigation. However, this comes at the cost of distorting the actual sizes of countries, with Africa appearing significantly smaller than it is in reality.
The Rise of the Equal Earth Map
Developed in 2018 by a team of cartographers, the Equal Earth map aims to rectify these distortions while preserving some of the Mercator's advantages for navigation. It was initially adopted by 54 members of the African Union and subsequently by the UN.
The new map sacrifices straight lines for more accurate area and shape representation, making it less suitable for measuring distances between locations. As a result, it offers a compromise in trying to perfect the representation of our spherical planet on a flat surface.