Africa’s representation on world maps has come under scrutiny as various organizations aim to correct the misconceptions arising from the widely used Mercator projection. Gerardus Mercator created this map projection in 1569. It dramatically exaggerates the size of Africa, making the continent look about 14 times smaller than it actually is. Africa is actually over seven times larger than Greenland. With this great size comes constant manipulation of the continent’s representation, which misleads people into thinking the continent isn’t important and/or geographically misleading.
The “Correct the Map” campaign, spearheaded by Speak Up Africa and Africa No Filter. Their overarching aim is to repair mapping errors and push for a more honest representation of Africa. The purpose of the initiative is to address stereotypical representations of Africa in learning materials, media and publishing. In doing so, it hopes to reshape perceptions and inspire a greater appreciation of the continent’s real scale and scope.
The Mercator Projection’s Distortions
The Mercator projection is well known for blowing up the size of northern areas, even doubling their land mass, while squishing those near the equator. This distortion is extremely harmful to the global image of Africa. For example, a 100 km² region near Oslo, Norway appears four times larger on the Mercator map. In comparison, a similarly sized area in Nairobi, Kenya, looks vastly different. These inconsistencies add to a perception that downplays Africa’s role and importance on the global stage.
Fara Ndiaye, a prominent advocate for accurate map representations, highlights the impact of this distortion:
“For centuries, this map has minimized Africa, feeding into a narrative that the continent is smaller, peripheral and less important.”
Some cartographers have claimed that the Mercator projection is needed for maritime navigation, because it shows true direction. It doesn’t do a great job of depicting an accurate side by side comparison of land areas. Mark Monmonier points out that:
“Any claim that Mercator is flagrantly misleading people seems naive.”
This underlines the persistent conflict between the benefits of traditional mapping practices and their powerful distortive impacts.
Alternatives to Traditional Mapping
In view of the issues associated with the Mercator projection, several alternative mapping approaches have been developed. Cartographers Tom Patterson, Bojan Savric and Bernhard Jenny introduced the Equal Earth projection back in 2018. As a breakthrough new visual map it tries to preserve all shapes as much as possible whilst maintaining areas proportional to reality. Savric asserts:
“Equal Earth preserves the relative surface areas of continents and, as much as possible, shows their shapes as they appear on a globe.”
Adopting new mapping methods poses challenges. Despite widespread adoption of Equal Earth by mapping software since it launched, changing ingrained user habits is a challenge. As Savric notes:
“Most mapping software has supported Equal Earth since 2018. The challenge is usage. People are creatures of habit.”
Equal Earth is not the first projection to address distortion in conventional maps. Oswald Winkel put forward an alternative in 1921, soon after followed by Arthur Robinson’s version in 1963, both seeking better accuracy. The Gall-Peters projection provides another alternative that, while not as accurate, is more true to the size of the continents.
Goals of the “Correct the Map” Campaign
Our “Correct the Map” campaign takes that a step further, demanding that federal agencies adopt new mapping standards. Its mission is to radically transform the way the world views Africa. Bright Simons, a Ghanaian policy analyst involved in the initiative, emphasizes that accurate representation is crucial for enhancing respect for the continent:
“South Korea, no matter how Mercator renders it, has almost the same GDP as all 50 African countries combined.”
The campaign is currently mobilizing international pressure on global institutions like the United Nations and UNESCO. Their purpose is to promote persistent transformative change in map portrayals. Ndiaye articulates this vision:
“Success will be when children everywhere open their textbooks and see Africa as it truly is: vast, central and indispensable.”
Our work now turns to advocating for the adoption of honest representations in schools across Africa and African media institutions. Through promotion of these changes, advocates hope to create an understanding that better represents Africa’s size and importance to the global community.