Maps or geographical charts reveal the space’s natural features and, especially, the socio-spatial arrangements. In this sense, they highlight and evidence spatial-temporal mutations, the functions of the social structures, and the range of contradictions intertwined within the geographic phenomena.
The Mercator projection was originally developed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. At this time, many of Europe’s top cartographers and explorers used elliptical projections derived from Ptolemy’s latitude and longitude grid. Although accurate, these projections were difficult for navigators and explorers to use because they required that bearing constantly be recalculated as they moved.
However, the Mercator projection is widely used for navigation charts, because any straight line on a Mercator projection map is a line of constant true bearing that enables a navigator to plot a straight-line course. It is less practical for world maps, however, because the scale is distorted; areas farther away from the Equator appear disproportionately large.
The “Correct the Map” Campaign
In 2017, Boston public schools announced that they will shift to using world maps based on the Peters projection, reportedly the first time a US public school district has done so. Why? Because the Peters projection accurately shows different countries’ relative sizes. Although it distorts countries’ shapes, this way of drawing a world map avoids exaggerating the size of developed nations in Europe and North America and reducing the size of less developed countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
This is what happens with the more commonly used Mercator projection, which exaggerates the size of the Earth around the poles and shrinks it around the equator. So the developed “global North” appears bigger than reality, and equatorial regions, which tend to be less developed, appear smaller. It’s especially problematic given that the first world maps based on the Mercator projection were produced by European colonialists.
Why does this problem occur? Simply put, the world is round and a map is flat. Imagine drawing a world map on an orange, peeling the skin to leave a single piece and then flattening it. It would, of course, rip. But imagine you could stretch it. As you did so, the map drawn on its surface would distort.
The distortions this introduces are massive. And different projections distort maps in different ways. The Mercator projection depicts Greenland as larger than Africa. But, in reality, Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. It alters the way you see the size – and, some people argue, the way you see the importance – of different parts of the world. So this isn’t just a cartographer’s dilemma – it’s a political problem.
The Renaissance cartographer Gerardus Mercator did this to preserve the shapes of countries, so the map could be used to accurately calculate compass bearings. Accurate compass bearings are very important if you are a 16th century seafarer. But if you want a better idea of the relative size of the world’s landmasses, you need a map that distorts shape but preserves area, like the Peters projection does.
The African Union has joined a campaign urging global institutions to adopt a map of Africa that more accurately reflects the continent’s size. The Mercator map, widely used since 1599, shows a version of Africa that has been distorted to appear significantly smaller on account of the globe’s spherical shape.
The “Correct the Map” campaign promotes a version of the Earth that more accurately reflects its scale, even on a 2-D surface. “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told Reuters, explaining that the map promotes a false idea that Africa is “marginal.” The African Union’s endorsement of the campaign adds to its goals of “reclaiming Africa’s rightful place on the global stage,” Haddadi said, as many nations call for a global reckoning over the long-term effects of colonialism and slavery.
Why Africa Deserves a New Map
Maps are the most relevant contribution of geography to the interpretation of human presence in space. Cartography of Africa is a central issue in the global order. The continent projects importance in most different themes, including the dynamics of the continental economy and its insertion with the regionalization. The cartographic production centered on the African experience is largely unknown. Commonly it is omitted due to the almost atavistic disqualifying perspective surrounding the continent, its peoples, and cultures. Therefore the Africa Map demands fair debate and recognition.
A byproduct of pan-African ideas in times post-colonization, the main goal of this chart has been identifying spatial macro-sets, taking into account the geographic dynamics to be translated in terms of a technically possible regionalization. The starting point of the Regional Map of Africa was the independence processes of the new Africa’s countries. In 1960, the annus mirabilis of Africa, no less than 17 new sovereign states, began to interact in the political geography of the continent.
Three years later, on 25 May 1963, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded by 32 newly independent nations in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, summit spearheaded by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. The OAU was replaced by the African Union (AU) on 9 July 2002, and like the previous entity, its headquarters is in Addis-Ababa. In common, the binomial OUA-UA shares the same goal: the integration and the progress towards an African Unity.
Nowadays, the political map of Africa displays 54 sovereign states, the most significant number of independent countries located in a single continent. On purpose, it should be noted that the African bench in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which represents almost a quarter of the member states, is the most significant group of this world entity. For this reason, also, Addis-Ababa is an influential diplomatic pole, a prestigious decision-making center of the global order.
At the same time, it is essential to note that there are still traces of colonialist interference in the continent. This issue refers to the authority exercised by Europeans over tiny islands, archipelagos, and coastal citadels, which, despite their limited geographical expression, are highly strategic because they are in charge of maritime passages and guarantee access to vast maritime resources.
Criticism of the Mercator map is not new, but the ‘Correct The Map‘ campaign – led by advocacy groups Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa – has revived the debate, urging organisations to adopt the 2018 Equal Earth projection, which tries to reflect countries’ true sizes. “The current size of the map of Africa is wrong,” Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, said. “It’s the world’s longest misinformation and disinformation campaign, and it just simply has to stop.”
Fara Ndiaye, co-founder of Speak Up Africa, said the Mercator affected Africans’ identity and pride, especially children who might encounter it early in school. “We’re actively working on promoting a curriculum where the Equal Earth projection will be the main standard across all (African) classrooms,” Ms Ndiaye said, adding she hoped it would also be the one used by global institutions, including Africa-based ones.
Ms 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.
A Call to Action
Although the Mercator projection simplifies navigation, rhumb lines do not show the shortest distance between two points. The shortest point between two points on Earth is called a great circle route. Unlike rhumb lines, such lines appear curved on a conformal projection. Of course, the literal shortest path from Providence to Rome is actually a straight line: but you’d have to travel beneath Earth’s surface to travel it. When we talk about the shortest distance between two points on Earth, we are talking in a practical sense of traveling across or above Earth’s surface.
Another way of representing the world is to display countries’ sizes in proportion to key indicators of interest to geographers today, such as population, environment and development. Predictably, the world map of GDP is dominated by North America and Europe, while Africa almost disappears. The population cartogram gives greater prominence to India and China, and makes Indonesia far bigger than neighbouring Australia. But perhaps more surprising is the map of voter turnout, where emerging economies are bigger – and North America smaller – than many people might suppose.
As noted, the perpetuity of spatial forms inherited from the colonialist past is at the root of the great migrations of impoverished Africans. Therefore, it would be urgent to address this problem at its origin, in Africa, guaranteeing the governance of states that are still fragile in the spaces of origin of these migrants, promoting an effective integration and facing the economic texture of the conflicts (a great theme, deserving evaluation in a specific text) taking into account the development and the social progress.
‘Correct The Map’ wants organisations like the World Bank and the United Nations to adopt the Equal Earth map. A World Bank spokesperson said they already use the Winkel-Tripel or Equal Earth for static maps and are phasing out Mercator on web maps.