The Guardian ·
Africa is bigger than we’ve been led to believe – what next?
A new map of the world rescales the size of Africa and calls into question our perception of land, power and influence
This month, the UN passed a resolution, brought to the assembly by Togo, to phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe and replace it with another that shows the real scale of territories. That’s right – when it comes to size, the map of the world we have all grown up with is not accurate. The main loser of land on the Mercator map is Africa, and the new “Equal Earth” map reflects its true proportions. I spoke to our west Africa correspondent Eromo Egbejule about his extensive reporting on the map changes, and why people feel so strongly about it.
Seeing the new map transposed over the old might make you feel oddly disoriented. Logically, there is absolutely no immediate tangible impact on one’s life that comes out of knowing that the entire top part of the northern hemisphere is so much smaller than you were led to believe. And yet, there is still something agitating about it, like you’ve been the subject of a lifelong trick, or at least a breach of trust.
The vast geographical inaccuracies of the old map include the shortening of Africa, and the relative expansion of North America and Eurasia. The new projection shows Africa as taking up almost double the ratio of total land area shown on the map. It all feeds into a sense that there is something domineering about it, portraying some countries as not just political and economic powers, but geographical ones as well, and therefore natural hegemons. It is an emotional response more than anything, but a testament to how much our perceptions of the physical world are linked to our estimations of stature.