Why an African group wants to replace the traditional world map

• The African Union is championing a drive to replace the 16th-century Mercator world map, arguing it inaccurately depicts Africa's true scale.
• The Mercator projection distorts continent sizes, inflating areas near the poles while shrinking Africa and South America.
• The 'Correct The Map' campaign, supported by the AU and advocacy groups, urges organisations to adopt the 2018 Equal Earth projection, which aims to reflect countries' true sizes.
• The campaign seeks to influence media, education, and policy, with plans to promote the Equal Earth projection as the main standard in classrooms and global institutions.
• While some organisations like Google Maps (on desktop) and the World Bank are phasing out Mercator, the campaign is pushing for wider adoption by bodies such as the United Nations.

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Africa is much bigger than you think. Here’s how you’ve been misled