Togo has announced plans to replace the world maps used in its school geography materials with a projection that more accurately represents the size of Africa and other regions.
Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, said the country plans to introduce the Equal Earth projection into its geography books before the end of 2026.
The announcement followed the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on Friday encouraging greater use of world maps that preserve the relative size of continents and land masses.
The resolution was sponsored by Togo on behalf of the African Group and was adopted with 164 countries voting in favour. The United States voted against, while six countries abstained.
The Equal Earth projection is an equal-area map designed to preserve the relative surface areas of continents while maintaining shapes that broadly resemble how they appear on a globe.
Dussey said Togo intended to lead by example by changing the maps used in its schools.
“Togo will be the first country to change our own geography books.”
He added that introducing the projection in classrooms could encourage other countries to reconsider how they represent the world geographically.
Togo also plans to engage other African countries, governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies about wider adoption of the projection.
According to Dussey, the country intends to meet with African Union member states and supporters from other regions within the next six months, including companies involved in mapping, GPS and other location-based technologies.
The UN resolution is not legally binding, meaning it does not require countries to stop using the Mercator projection.
Togo’s Foreign Ministry also clarified that the initiative does not seek to eliminate Mercator maps from every application. The projection remains useful for certain navigation purposes, including maritime and aerial navigation.
The Mercator projection was developed in the 16th century primarily for navigation. It preserves directions, making it useful for navigational purposes, but it significantly distorts the relative size of land masses as they move farther from the Equator.
One commonly cited example is Greenland and Africa. Africa is roughly 14 times larger than Greenland in actual land area, although the two can appear much closer in size on a Mercator map.
Dussey said the campaign was part of wider efforts to address the legacy of colonial-era representations of Africa, while stressing that it was not intended as an attack on Europe or any other civilisation.
“The world is changing. Africa also is changing.”
India also voted in favour of the resolution but emphasised that no single map projection should necessarily be imposed for every purpose.
Indian diplomat Raghoo Puri said maps influence how societies understand geography and the relative scale of different parts of the world.
India argued that equal-area projections are particularly useful when the objective is to represent the actual relative sizes of continents and territories.
However, New Delhi called for a technologically and methodologically neutral approach that allows educators and cartographers to select projections based on their intended use.
The United States was the only country to vote against the resolution.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz criticised the initiative, describing it as part of what he considered a broader ideological agenda and questioning why the General Assembly was focusing on historical map projections.
The African Union, meanwhile, welcomed the resolution and praised Togo for sponsoring it on behalf of the African Group.
AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said the adoption represented an important step towards improving the representation of Africa on global maps.
The AU encouraged international institutions, educational systems, publishers and digital platforms to progressively adopt maps that provide a more accurate representation of land areas.
“Africa must be represented as it truly is: in its true dimensions and in its rightful place in the world.”
The African Union Commission said it would continue working with Togo, member states and other partners to support the initiative.
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