UN Urges Equal‑Area Maps

The UN General Assembly voted 164–1 to encourage governments, schools and tech companies to use equal‑area map projections (like Equal Earth) instead of the distortion-prone Mercator when relative size matters, while teaching the limits of any flat map. The resolution is non‑binding but signals state and institutional pressure to change educational and digital defaults that shape public perception of continents such as Africa. — This reframes a technical map‑projection choice as a matter of international politics, education standards, media design and platform defaults that shape how billions perceive geography and global power.