African Union urges adoption of world map showing continent's true size


  • World
  • Thursday, 14 Aug 2025

FILE PHOTO: A vendor sells a map of Africa along the streets of Bujumbura, Burundi/April 24, 2015/REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

LONDON/DAKAR (Reuters) -The African Union has backed a campaign to end the use by governments and international organisations of the 16th-century Mercator map of the world in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa's size.

Created by cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigation, the projection distorts continent sizes, enlarging areas near the poles like North America and Greenland while shrinking Africa and South America.

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