Africa wants its true size on the world map

The African Union argues that the Mercator projection distorts the continent, both in size and global attention.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The African Union has joined a campaign to replace the Mercator map with the Equal Earth projection.

• The result would be a fairer representation of Africa’s relative size.

• It would not be the first such campaign to fail: Mercator may be 450 years old, but it has a digital trick up its sleeve.