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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
On world maps, Russia, Canada, and Greenland often appear larger than they actually are. This is not political manipulation but the consequence of the old Mercator map projection, which heavily stretches territories toward the poles.
The UN proposed using another map more widely – Equal Earth. It more accurately shows area ratios, so northern countries look less gigantic on it, and Africa and South America appear closer to their real sizes.
For Ukraine, this history turned out to be not only cartographic. The Ukrainian delegation abstained during the vote because on the map associated with the new projection Crimea was shown in an unacceptable way – visually separated from Ukraine.
What is wrong with the Mercator projection?
The Mercator projection by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator emerged in the 16th century and has become one of the most famous in the world. Its strength is the preservation of angles and directions. That is why it was very useful for maritime navigation: with such a map it is convenient to plot a course. This property explains why Mercator did not disappear even in the digital era.
The world is changing as well as maps / Screenshot from a video
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Its principles are used in services like Google Maps and Apple Maps, where the important thing is routes, directions, and convenient display of local areas. The problem begins when such a map is perceived as a fair comparison of country and continent sizes. The farther a territory is from the equator, the more it visually enlarges.
Because of this, Greenland on the Mercator map can look almost as big as Africa, although Africa is actually about 14 times larger. This creates a false sense of scale. Northern territories, especially Europe, North America, and Greenland, seem disproportionately large, while countries closer to the equator visually lose their real size.
At the same time, Mercator is not a “bad” map by itself. It is a tool for a specific task. It works well for navigation, but is poorly suited to explain which country or part of the world is truly larger than another.
Why did the UN turn to Equal Earth?
The Equal Earth projection was created in 2018 by cartographers Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny. It was developed as an alternative to popular compromise world maps, including the Robinson projection. Equal Earth is an equal-area projection.
This means it preserves the correct ratio of areas. If one territory on Earth is larger than another, this difference is also conveyed proportionally on the map. That is why Africa on such a map looks significantly larger than on the traditional Mercator map.
It was not “enlarged” artificially – on the contrary, the distortion that made northern territories seem too large was removed. The UN resolution encourages broader use of Equal Earth in education, cartography, and digital services. But it does not ban the Mercator projection and does not make Equal Earth legally mandatory for all maps.
What will the “new” world look like / Screenshot from video
According to the document, 164 states voted. The United States opposed it, while 6 countries abstained, including Ukraine.
Why did Ukraine abstain during the vote?
Ukraine did not support the resolution not because of the idea of a more accurate depiction of areas itself. The problem was how the temporarily occupied Crimea was shown on the map associated with Equal Earth. According to Ukrainian media reports, Crimea on it was visually separated from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian delegation at the UN called such a depiction unacceptable because it creates ambiguity regarding the country’s territorial integrity.
Member of Parliament Kira Rudik also drew attention to this problem.
In 2026 year, the UN should not need a reminder: Crimea is Ukraine,
— she writes.
Ukraine’s position in this story does not deny the cartographic problem of Mercator. It concerns another issue – that even a technical world map should not create the impression that an occupied territory has an undefined or separated status. This is an important nuance.
The Equal Earth resolution was conceived as a way to correct old cartographic biases, especially regarding Africa. But for Ukraine it became an example of how an attempt to fix one injustice can create a new political problem if internationally recognized borders are shown inaccurately on the map.
What other projections are used for world maps?
Equal Earth is not the only attempt to show the world without area distortion. One well-known equal-area projection is the Mollweide projection. It also preserves area ratios, so it is suitable for maps where you need to compare the sizes of continents, countries, or statistics related to territory.
In Mollweide, the world has the shape of an ellipse. The equator is shown as a straight horizontal line, the central meridian as a straight vertical line, and most other meridians curve. This preserves areas proportionally, but the shape of continents, angles, and distances are distorted, especially toward the edges of the map.
The UN uses more than one projection in its work. Its maps can be built on Robinson, Winkel Tripel, or Eckert IV projections – depending on what exactly needs to be shown. The Robinson projection is a compromise: it does not perfectly preserve areas or angles, but distributes distortion so that the map looks more natural overall. Winkel Tripel is also used for a general global view, as it reduces excessive stretching near the poles. Eckert IV, on the other hand, is an equal-area projection and useful for thematic maps where comparing areas is important.
Why does the new map make Russia look smaller?
Russia no longer looks so disproportionately large as on the traditional Mercator projection. Because of its northern location, Russia, Canada, and Greenland on traditional maps appear bigger than they actually are. Equal Earth more accurately conveys area ratios, so northern territories visually “shrink” to a more realistic scale.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "ООН закликала змінити карту світу: чому на новій мапі "зменшили" Росію". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
