Ukraine was forced to abstain from supporting a UN General Assembly resolution proposed by Togo regarding a new world map which—unlike the conventional 16th-century Mercator projection—reflects the true relative sizes of countries, due to its portrayal of Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by Russia, constituting a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law.
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Andriy Melnyk emphasized in his address on Friday that the depiction of the "Equal Earth" contains data that violates the fundamental principles of international law regarding sovereignty and territorial integrity. Furthermore, he noted that it contradicts all relevant General Assembly resolutions on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the non-recognition of the attempted illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014.
He noted that Ukraine did not fundamentally object to the core issues raised in the draft resolution, recognizes the importance of accurate and scientifically grounded cartographic representations, and supports efforts to address historical distortions in representing the sizes of continents, particularly those affecting Africa and other regions of the Global South. However, all efforts to engage the co-sponsors of the draft resolution on September 3 and 4 to find compromise language proved unsuccessful, Melnyk noted with regret.
Ukraine's representative stated that it would indeed be a fatal mistake for everyone and for the General Assembly to seek to rectify a historical injustice in the geographical representation of countries and continents while simultaneously allowing a deeply concerning interpretation of the text of the draft resolution. He warned that such a misinterpretation could open a Pandora's box, effectively enabling the abuse and distortion of the political map of the world.
Melnyk called on other delegations to take the issue seriously and to express their concerns regarding the dangerous uncertainty and ambiguity that could arise following the recommendation to use such a map.
The representative of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, also drew attention to the same issue. He emphasized that the new map should pertain solely to the relative size of landmasses and have no bearing on sovereignty, territorial status, or internationally recognized borders.
Nevertheless, the EU supported the resolution, while stating that its support did not imply endorsement of the maps hosted on the Equal Earth website.
In addition to Ukraine, five other countries abstained from the vote—Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Serbia—while only the United States voted against it, with 164 countries voting in favor.
The United States considers the vote to have been political in nature. The American representative said that the resolution mocks the work and purpose of the institution, arguing that what was presented as an innocuous attempt to update cartographic proportions was part of a much larger and more radical ideological project.
As noted in a UN report, the resolution does not ban the Mercator projection nor impose its replacement. Instead, it calls on governments, schools, international organizations, and technology companies to use the "Equal Earth" projection and other so-called equal-area maps when relative size matters, and to teach the limitations of any flat map in representing a spherical planet.
The UN recalled that Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator developed his projection in 1569 to solve a practical problem in nautical navigation. Because straight lines on his map correspond to constant compass bearings, mariners could use it to plot their courses.
However, preserving direction came at the expense of surface area. Landmasses appear to expand the farther they are from the equator. For instance, Greenland appears roughly comparable in size to Africa, even though Africa is approximately 14 times larger. Northern Europe and North America experience similar magnification compared to equatorial regions.
Despite its original navigational purpose, the Mercator projection remains widespread in educational, media, digital, and official materials. The resolution states that these distortions have contributed to the symbolic minimization of Africa and perpetuated an imbalanced worldview.
