UN overlooks cartographic engineering

K N Pandita

knp627@gmail.com

For over 450 years, the standard world map used in classrooms, atlases, and digital platforms has been based on the Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. While the Mercator map was an incredible tool for 16th-century nautical navigation because it preserved straight compass bearings, it mathematically creates massive distortions near the poles. As a result, landmasses in the Global North appear disproportionately massive, while equatorial regions are visually shrunk. For example: on a Mercator map, Greenland looks roughly the same size as the continent of Africa. In reality, Africa is larger 14 times than Greece. In reality, Greenland covers 2.16 million sq km. Africa covers 30.3 million, nearly 14 times as much. Even India, at 3.29 million sq km, is bigger than Greenland, but the maps as of now suggest otherwise.

Designed primarily for maritime navigation, the Mercator map preserves angles and direction but severely distorts the relative size of landmasses as they approach the poles. While it was functional for European sailors charting trade routes during the Age of Discovery, its prolonged dominance as an educational tool has institutionalized a warped worldview.

The most egregious consequence of this projection is the dramatic underrepresentation of the Global South, particularly Africa. On a standard Mercator map, Africa appears roughly equivalent in size to Greenland. In geographic reality, Africa is 15 times larger than Greenland.

Cartographic distortion fosters an insidious psychological bias. When generations of schoolchildren grow up viewing a world where Europe and North America dwarf the rest of the globe, it subtly conditions a perception of inherent cultural, economic, and geopolitical superiority.

Resolution

On September 4, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a historic, non-binding resolution titled "Correct the Map: Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable Representation of the World's Regions, Particularly Africa". Sponsored by Togo, spearheaded by the African Union, and passed with an overwhelming 164-to-1 vote, this landmark decision formally encourages the global community to move away from the centuries-old Mercator projection towards the 2018 Equal Earth map projection. The United States cast the sole dissenting vote, and there were six abstentions: Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine.

While legally non-binding, the resolution represents a profound shift in international relations, signalling a collective commitment to undoing the psychological and structural remnants of Eurocentric cartography. By challenging how the world visually conceptualises power and geography, the UN has initiated a long-overdue decolonisation of the global mind.

Rabah Arezki, a former World Bank economist, writing in Le Monde, argued that the Mercator projection historically served as a political tool. "The standard projection was a political tool that contributed to the scramble for Africa, also known as the partition of Africa when Western European powers colonized the continent," he wrote. "Just as making Africa look small and conquerable then, the Mercator projection makes the continent look small and irrelevant now."

The entire continent of Africa covers approximately 30.3 million square kilometres - a vast expanse capable of comfortably containing the contiguous United States, China, India, Japan, and most of Europe combined. By shrinking the African continent and expanding northern territories, the Mercator projection has implicitly reinforced colonial-era hierarchies, visually diminishing the physical prominence and geopolitical weight of developing nations.

This framing resonates with leaders outside Africa as well. Dorbrene O'Marde, Vice Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, described support for the Equal Earth projection as a rejection of the Mercator map's "ideology of power and dominance."

India voted in favour

India welcomed the Correct the Map Resolution passed by the UN General Assembly on September 4, 2026, noting that traditional maps diminish the perceived sizes of Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. The move aligns with backing developing regions and the African Union's push for accurate geographical scaling instead of 16th century navigational distortions. India clarified that its vote endorsed the general use of equal-area map projections rather than binding the country to any specific projection style like Equal Earth. In a press release, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal said, "the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution titled "Correct the Map Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable Representation of the World's Regions, Particularly Africa" on 4th of this month. He said the purpose of this is to encourage the use of equal-area map projections that preserve the relative sizes of continental land mass. The Spokesperson said, India voted in favour of the resolution and also made an explanation of vote stressing on the underlying principle of promoting equal - area cartographic representation. He highlighted that the resolution does not constitute endorsement of any specific map, projection, or depiction of national boundaries. India clarified that its vote endorsed the general use of equal area map projections rather than binding the country to any specific projection style like equal earth.

The controversy

Following the release of maps by UN Geospatial, objection arose in India because regions like Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin were not shown in accordance with official Indian maps. Instead, they were marked using separate "Indian line" and "Chinese line" claim designations, creating ambiguity over sovereign borders. Additionally, while the map provided an explanatory dotted note for the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, it lacked similar clarifying caveats for the India-China claim lines

India's stand justified

India rejected the by map issued UN Geospatial on a number of counts. First, the terms of reference were that the UN Geospatial will draw a map which exactly shows the land mass of a country exactly what its size is neither less nor more. It had no business to demarcate the land by drawing red lines and then adding note separately about the ownership as has been done in the case of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin. Secondly, the map of UN Geospatial is non-binding and India rejected it. The recommendation of the UN GA that the UN Geospatial map should be adopted by the libraries, universities, schools and educational institutions is null and void because it is non-binding. Thirdly, while voting in favour of the resolution on Sept 4, India clarified two essential points. One, Sovereignty was Non-Negotiable. The Ministry of External Affairs emphasized that the non-binding resolution does not authenticate any specific map or address political boundaries. Second, India firmly stated that its sovereign territory --- including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh-must strictly follow India's official map, calling any misleading depictions unacceptable.

India's stand was vindicated by Ireland whose representative made almost an identical statement. Speaking on behalf of the bloc, Ireland stressed that the measure applied only to the relative size of landmasses and had no bearing on sovereignty, territorial status or internationally recognized borders.

Tailpiece

The cartographic engineer done in the case of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin regions is blatant violation of the terms of reference. It could be done only on prompting by interested source. We all know that there have been repeated. It is sad that demands by a majority of members to bring about drastic reforms in the UN. It is dominated by certain vested interests and directed by money power. China invaded Arunachal in 1962 and a year later, it clandestinely obtained Aksai Chin from Pakistan which had been illegally occupying a part of the territory of the State of Jammu and Kashmir that had legally acceded to the Indian Union. China and Pakistan in combination have been conspiring disintegration of the State of Jammu and Kashmir,

Failing to annex Arunachal by force of arms, Beijing is now using other underhand methods to strengthen its illegal claims. It is sad that an organization that was supposed to maintain the high levels of impartiality has lost its reputation and is looked at with a big question mark by most of its member states.