Issue with the Map of Africa and the Mercator Projection

24 Aug 2025 GS 2 International Relations

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Background

The Mercator projection (1569, Gerardus Mercator) was designed for navigation, not accuracy of landmass sizes.
It distorts scale near the poles, making Europe, Russia, Canada, and Greenland look much larger than they are, while shrinking equatorial regions like Africa, South America, and India.
Example: Africa (30 million sq. km) often appears the same size as Greenland (2.1 million sq. km), though Africa is 14 times larger.

The African Union (AU) has endorsed the “Correct the Map” campaign to replace the Mercator projection.
The distortion has long contributed to symbolic marginalisation of Africa, making it appear smaller and less significant.
Critics argue the map reinforced colonial attitudes — Africa looked “small and conquerable then, irrelevant now.”
Textbooks, media, and online platforms still widely use the Mercator projection, reinforcing stereotypes.

Flattening a spherical Earth onto a rectangle always requires compromise.
A map can preserve area, shape, distance, or direction — but not all simultaneously.
Mercator preserved shape and angles (good for navigation) but sacrificed area accuracy.

Equal Earth Projection (2018):
- Preserves relative areas, showing Africa’s true size.
- Continents look slightly curved or stretched.
Gall-Peters Projection (1970s):
- Area-accurate but elongated vertically.
- Politically motivated correction to Mercator.
Orthographic Projection:
- Earth as seen from space; visually intuitive.
- Limitation: shows only one hemisphere at a time.
Other Corrective Maps:
- e.g., Stuart McArthur’s 1979 “Universal Corrective Map,” which flipped the world upside down.

Institutional change is difficult: Mercator is deeply entrenched in classrooms, digital platforms, and atlases.
Adoption efforts:
- AU backing adds legitimacy.
- World Bank, National Geographic, NASA already using Equal Earth.
- Google Maps offers a 3D globe (desktop), but defaults to Mercator on mobile.
Requires curriculum reform, digital redesigns, and mindset shifts to correct historical biases.