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05:08

The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution encouraging the use of more accurate, equal-area world maps following an Africa-led campaign spearheaded by Togo. The resolution does not ban the widely used Mercator projection, but promotes alternatives such as the Equal Earth projection, which better reflects the true size of landmasses. Created in 1569 for navigation, the Mercator map makes areas near the poles appear much larger than they are while shrinking regions closer to the equator. The resolution passed with near-unanimous support, with only the United States voting against and six countries abstaining. Togo says the campaign aims to promote greater equity and more accurate representation in global affairs.

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UN backs Africa-led push for more accurate world maps