Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Ukraine did not support the UN General Assembly resolution on a new cartographic projection of the world. The reason was that on the proposed map the temporarily occupied Crimea is depicted in a way Kyiv considers unacceptable.
This was reported by Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
The Ukrainian delegation emphasized that it does not object to the idea of more accurately reflecting the sizes of continents. In particular, this concerns Africa and other regions of the Global South, whose areas often appear distorted on traditional maps.
The problem for Ukraine was the specific cartographic projection being proposed. In Kyiv’s assessment, it depicts Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia in a manner that may contradict the principles of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The delegation recalled that the UN General Assembly has repeatedly affirmed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and has not recognized Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea. Therefore, in the Ukrainian side’s view, the new map should not create ambiguity about the peninsula’s belonging.
Kyiv tried to negotiate a compromise formulation with the document’s authors, but was unable to do so. After that, Ukraine decided not to support the resolution.
The Ukrainian side also warned that efforts to correct historical distortions in the depiction of the continents should not lead to new political disputes. In Kyiv there are concerns that an unclear interpretation of the new map could create a dangerous precedent.
Member of Parliament Kira Rudik also reacted to the situation. She stressed that Crimea is part of Ukraine and this should not be called into question even because of peculiarities of a cartographic projection.
The initiative for the new map was promoted by African countries. They advocate abandoning the traditional Mercator projection, created in the 16th century, because it significantly distorts the relative sizes of different parts of the world.
This is especially true for Africa, which on many familiar maps appears smaller than it actually is. Supporters of the new projection believe that more accurate depiction of the continents has not only geographical but also symbolic significance.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Україна відмовилася підтримати нову карту світу ООН через Крим". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Expert.
