Africa's 'Correct the Map' Campaign Challenges Mercator Projection Bias
The 'Correct the Map' initiative, spearheaded by Speak Up Africa, Africa No Filter, and the African Union, takes aim at the Mercator projection for its misleading representation of Africa's size and significance. Designed by Gerhard Kremer in 1596, this map inflates the dimensions of polar regions while downplaying those near the equator. Detractors contend that it perpetuates Eurocentric perspectives; for example, Greenland is depicted as being similar in size to Africa, despite actually being comparable to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Selma Malika Haddadi from the African Union Commission remarked that the projection portrays Africa as 'marginal.' The campaign promotes the Equal Earth projection, introduced in 2018, for use in African educational settings, with the UN-GGIM set to evaluate this proposal.
Key facts
- Mercator projection created in 1596 by Gerhard Kremer (Mercator)
- Map enlarges polar regions, shrinks equatorial areas like Africa and South America
- Greenland appears comparable to Africa but is similar in size to DRC
- Alaska appears as large as Australia but is four times smaller
- Campaign 'Correct the Map' led by African Union, Africa No Filter, Speak Up Africa
- Selma Malika Haddadi (African Union VP) says projection fuels false impression of Africa as marginal
- Moky Makura (Africa No Filter) calls it 'longest disinformation campaign'
- Equal Earth projection (2018) proposed as alternative, maintains area sizes
Entities
Artists
- Gerhard Kremer (Mercator)
- Arno Peters
- Bojan Šavrič
- Bernhard Jenny
- Tom Patterson
Institutions
- African Union
- Africa No Filter
- Speak Up Africa
- United Nations
- World Bank
- UN-GGIM
- National Geographic Society
- Google Maps
- Reuters
- The Guardian
Locations
- Africa
- Greenland
- Canada
- Australia
- South America
- Alaska
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Sweden
- Italy
- Equator