The resolution nevertheless passed overwhelmingly. Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said longstanding cartographic distortions had helped minimise Africa's perceived size and contributed to an unbalanced view of world geography.

The measure promotes greater use of equal-area maps, including the Equal Earth projection, which preserve the relative size of continents more accurately than the centuries-old Mercator projection.

Dussey said the initiative was not directed against any country or cartographic tradition, but aimed at encouraging projections that better reflect the true proportions of continents.

The African Union has backed the campaign through its "Correct the Map" initiative, arguing that maps can influence how countries and continents are perceived globally.

New projections from the UN Population Division show that population growth will be heavily concentrated in Africa and parts of Asia, while Europe, the Americas and Oceania face slowdowns or long-term declines.

These shifts will redefine economies, migration patterns, and geopolitical power in the decades ahead.

According to the latest forecast , Africa is set to become home to 4.6 billion people by 2100, more than tripling its current population. Asia, which today holds nearly 60% of the world’s people, is projected to decline slightly to around 3.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Europe is expected to shrink to 592 million, and Latin America to 380 million, reflecting ageing populations and persistently low birth rates. North America will grow modestly to 710 million, driven largely by migration, while Oceania is expected to reach 73 million.

These numbers arrive at a time when many nations are already struggling with demographic challenges. In 2025, countries from Japan to Italy are dealing with shrinking workforces and rising dependency ratios, prompting governments to rethink labour policies, immigration rules, and social welfare systems.

The UN has warned repeatedly that demographic imbalance is becoming a defining global issue, one that will influence economic growth, energy demand, and even climate strategy.UN Policy Brief: https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/policy-briefs

Africa’s projected surge reflects both its young population and improvements in health outcomes. The continent currently has a median age of around 19, compared to 42 in Europe.

If managed well, this growth could provide a powerful economic engine, similar to the demographic boom that propelled China’s rise in the late 20th century. But the UN also cautions that without strong investments in education, infrastructure, and job creation, the rapid expansion could deepen inequality and strain public services.

Asia’s projected decline highlights a different challenge. China’s population has already started shrinking, and India is expected to stabilise mid-century before beginning its own decline.

Falling fertility rates, a trend seen across most of Asia , have raised concerns about future economic productivity. The Guardian recently reported that several Asian governments are offering financial incentives to encourage births, yet early results remain limited.

Meanwhile, Europe and parts of Latin America may face some of the world’s steepest demographic contractions. These regions are already experiencing school closures, labour shortages and increased reliance on migration to sustain their economies.

The IMF notes that countries with ageing populations could see slower GDP growth unless they adopt major policy reforms and attract foreign labour.

North America stands out for its relative demographic stability, largely due to immigration. The United States, in particular, continues to rely on migrants to expand its workforce, even amid political debates over border control. Current U.S. economic legislation and election-year discussions highlight how migration remains central to sustaining the country’s long-term population growth.

Oceania, while small in absolute numbers, is projected to continue growing but faces unique challenges tied to climate change. Rising sea levels threaten several Pacific Island nations, prompting discussions about potential displacement and migration corridors long before the end of the century.

Most of us recognise the Mercator projection—the rectangular world map that lines classrooms, textbooks, and even boardrooms.

Created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigational purposes, it was revolutionary in its time. It preserved accurate angles and directions for sailors, but at a cost: countries near the poles became wildly distorted in size.

Greenland, for example, appears to rival Africa in area, even though Africa is 14 times larger. Europe and North America look oversized compared to the Global South, reinforcing a geopolitical bias that persists to this day.

The campaign points out that “North on top” is not a geographical law , but rather a convention shaped by centuries of Eurocentrism. Medieval Christian and early Islamic maps often placed the East at the top—orienting the world differently, quite literally.

This choice shapes perceptions: what looks bigger, feels more important. The over-representation of Europe and North America subtly influences how people understand global power, trade, and politics.

The Gall-Peters projection, shown as an alternative, attempts to address this distortion by preserving area rather than shape. On a Gall-Peters map, Africa looms large, while Europe shrinks to a more proportionate size. This view challenges long-standing visual biases ingrained by the Mercator projection.

The visuals also highlight that even orientation is a choice—some modern maps centre the Pacific , not Europe, or flip north and south. One graphic even imagines a map from the perspective of ocean-dwelling creatures, emphasising that 70% of Earth’s surface is ocean, not land.