UN Assembly Backs Togo-led Africa Map Accuracy Resolution

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution, presented by Togo on behalf of the African Group, promoting a more faithful cartographic representation of the real dimensions of Africa and other regions of the planet. The vote was welcomed by Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, who called it an important step toward a more accurate representation of world geography. According to Youssouf, many of the maps used today derive from models developed in the 16th century for navigation purposes. While fundamental to the history of cartography, these systems visually distort the relative sizes of different areas of the globe, particularly reducing the perception of Africa's actual extent.