Nearly every country in the United Nations General Assembly recently supported a resolution encouraging the use of world maps that more accurately reflect the sizes of continents. The African-led initiative received 164 votes in favor, with six countries choosing not to vote. The United States was the only nation to oppose the resolution, calling it a "radical ideological project," according to UN News. The resolution is non-binding, meaning it does not force any changes to how maps are made. Instead, it urges governments, schools, organizations, and tech companies to consider using the Equal Earth projection or other "equal-area" maps when accurate size comparisons are important. It also encourages education about the challenges of representing a spherical planet on a flat surface. Many widely used world maps today are based on the Mercator projection, a map design first introduced by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. The Mercator projection was created to help sailors navigate the seas, as it preserves straight lines that correspond to constant compass directions. This made it extremely useful for maritime navigation and helped it become one of the most common map projections still in use today. Digital maps, including those used in popular navigation apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps, continue to rely on variations of this projection. Google Maps alone has more than 2 billion monthly users, highlighting its widespread use. However, the Mercator projection has a significant drawback: it distorts the relative sizes of landmasses. Continents near the equator appear smaller than they actually are, while those farther from the equator—like Greenland and Europe—look much larger than they are. For example, Africa, which is about 14 times larger than Greenland, appears roughly the same size on a Mercator map. These distortions can influence how people perceive geography and even affect geopolitical decisions. A study published in Communication Reports found that the visual exaggeration of Greenland's size on Mercator maps may have played a role in how people viewed the Trump administration’s proposal to buy the island. The recent UN resolution highlights a growing awareness of these distortions and a push for more accurate map representations. While the Mercator projection remains popular for its navigational utility, the call for equal-area maps reflects a broader effort to ensure that maps not only serve practical purposes but also reflect the true proportions of the world's landmasses. This shift underscores the ongoing debate over how maps shape our understanding of the world and the importance of choosing the right map for the right purpose.