They’ve been lying about the size of Africa, and the AU wants to set the record straight

The African Union (AU) is backing a major campaign to challenge how the world sees Africa. Launched advocacy groups, the ‘Correct the Map’ drive is calling for the replacement of the 16th-century Mercator projection, a world map design that experts say distorts the size of continents.

The Mercator projection, widely used in classrooms, atlases, and online mapping services, inflates land masses closer to the poles while shrinking those near the equator. This has made Africa; the second-largest continent on Earth, appear far smaller than its actual size, alongside similar distortions for South America.

To fix this, the AU and its partners are pushing for the adoption of the Equal Earth projection, a 2018 design created to more accurately reflect the true size and proportions of countries and continents.

 The AU Commission Deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told Reuters, that the Mercator fostered a false impression that Africa was “marginal”, despite being the world’s second-largest continent by area, with 54 nations and over a billion people.. ”Such stereotypes influence media, education and policy,” she said.

According to Haddadi the issue with the map might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not.

Haddadi said the AU endorsed the campaign, adding it aligned with its goal of “reclaiming Africa’s rightful place on the global stage” amid growing calls for reparations for colonialism and slavery.

The AU will advocate for wider map adoption and discuss collective actions with member states, Haddadi added.

The campaign aims to influence media, education, and policymaking by encouraging organisations and governments to make the Equal Earth projection the standard in classrooms and global institutions.

While some players like Google Maps (desktop version) and the World Bank are already moving away from Mercator, the AU hopes to convince heavyweights like the United Nations to join the shift.

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