French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Friday that the nation will retire the Mercator projection from its diplomatic materials, replacing it with the Eckert IV projection. This decision aims to address long-standing criticisms that the traditional map artificially inflates the size of polar regions while diminishing the visual scale of equatorial areas.
Speaking at a Sorbonne event titled “La Fabrique de la diplomatie,” Barrot argued that “the time has come” to rectify perceptions inherited from 16th-century Western navigators. He emphasized that maps are not neutral tools, noting that countries like the United States, Russia, and China appear disproportionately large compared to African and Asian nations under the Mercator system. As a result of the switch, France will appear smaller on maps, aligning more closely with the true proportions of other equatorial nations.
The move coincides with a similar shift at the United Nations, where the General Assembly recently voted to adopt the Equal Earth projection. Sponsored by Togo, the non-binding resolution was supported by 164 member states and encourages governments, educators, and tech companies to use equal-area maps that preserve accurate surface proportions. The African Union had already adopted the Equal Earth standard in March.
While the resolution promotes cognitive justice and memorial reparation, the United States voted against it, labeling the initiative a “radical ideological project.” Six other nations, including Ukraine and Estonia, abstained. The UN clarified that the Mercator projection is not banned, and major digital platforms like Google Maps continue to utilize variations of it.
Although France has chosen the Eckert IV projection, created in 1906, experts note it remains visually similar to the UN-recommended Equal Earth model. However, the impact on French education remains uncertain, as most textbooks still rely on Mercator maps, with only rare exceptions using alternative projections like Eckert or Peters.
Finally! It’s high time we stopped distorting reality. Africa deserves to look its true size.
Wait, so France actually shrinks on these maps now? Interesting choice to go along with this.
I never realized how much the Mercator projection skewed my worldview. Thanks for sharing this.
But will textbooks actually change? If schools keep using old maps, what’s the real point?
Calling the US reaction ‘radical’ seems a bit much. Just use a different map projection, folks.