Prime Africa News – For centuries, the Mercator map has shaped how the world sees itself. First created in the 16th century, the projection became the standard for navigation and education. But it comes with a flaw: it stretches land masses farther from the equator, shrinking Africa in comparison to northern nations.
On a Mercator map, Greenland often looks as big as Africa. In reality, Africa is about 14 times larger. The continent’s true scale is striking:
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Africa: 30.3 million km²
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Russia: 17 million km²
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Canada: 9.9 million km²
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Greenland: 2.1 million km²
Africa is more than one and a half times the size of Russia and three times larger than Canada, yet students worldwide have grown up thinking the opposite.
The “Correct The Map” Campaign
The African Union (AU) has endorsed the “Correct The Map” campaign, a global advocacy push to replace the Mercator projection with the Equal Earth projection — a map that accurately represents the relative sizes of countries.
“The current size of the map of Africa is wrong,” said Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter. “It’s the world’s longest misinformation and disinformation campaign, and it just simply has to stop.”
AU Commission deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi echoed the sentiment: “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not. The Mercator fostered a false impression that Africa was marginal, despite being the world’s second-largest continent by area, with over a billion people.”
Why Mercator Lasted So Long
Every flat map distorts reality. Imagine peeling an orange and pressing it flat — some parts stretch or shrink. In the 1500s, Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator chose a cylindrical projection, which made navigation easier by turning compass paths into straight lines. For sailors, it was revolutionary. For students, however, it was misleading.
Mercator’s map became the classroom standard, leading generations to see Greenland, Canada and Russia as “giants” and Africa as smaller than it really is.
A Shift in Perspective
The push to adopt Equal Earth builds on decades of criticism. The new projection, introduced in 2018, reflects the true sizes of continents while still keeping an aesthetically balanced view of the globe.
Scaled proportionately, Africa can fit the United States, China, India and most of Europe within its borders — a reality that Mercator obscures.
“Every projection makes trade-offs,” explained experts. “But size distortion has political consequences. It influences how people perceive importance, resources and power.”
Global Adoption Growing
The AU is urging institutions like the World Bank and United Nations to embrace Equal Earth. A World Bank spokesperson told Prime Africa News they already use Winkel-Tripel or Equal Earth for most maps and are phasing out Mercator in digital formats.
Tech companies are also adapting. Google Maps switched to a 3D globe on desktop in 2018, though its mobile app still defaults to Mercator.
Support is also coming from beyond Africa. Dorbrene O’Marde, vice chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, called adopting Equal Earth “a rejection of the Mercator map’s ideology of power and dominance.”
Correcting Centuries of Distortion
The campaign is not just about geography — it is about justice, identity and perception. By shifting to Equal Earth, Africa and the Global South can finally be represented at their true scale.
As Makura put it: “It’s time for the world to see Africa as it really is.”
Sources
The CIA World Factbook, World Bank, The True Size of Countries, The True Size of Africa (Kai Krause).
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