Have you seen the new world map?

Presenter: OK, geography quiz time. Which of these places is bigger? Africa or Greenland?

Student 1: Maybe Greenland.

Student 2: I reckon Africa.

Student 3: Africa.

Presenter: Antarctica or South America?

Student 4: Antarctica.

Student 5: Antarctica.

Student 2: Antarctica.

Presenter: Alaska or Australia?

Student 3: Australia.

Student 1: Maybe Alaska.

Student 5: Australia.

Presenter: If you got any of those wrong, don’t worry. It’s not you. It’s the map.

This is the Mercator projection. It’s the world map most humans have been using for quite a while. It was first drawn up by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 to help sailors navigate the world by allowing them to draw a straight line between any two points to get a constant compass bearing.

And while the shapes and angles of the land masses are correct, the size of them isn’t.

That’s because, as you probably know, the world is a sphere, not a flat piece of paper. And if you’ve ever tried to turn one into the other, you’ll know it’s not entirely easy.

In order to fit everything in nice and neatly, the Mercator projection stretches everything in the north and south.

As a result, continents that are further from the equator appear bigger than they actually are. It means, for example, Greenland looks like it’s roughly the same size as Africa, even though Africa is about 14 times bigger than Greenland.

And while that’s not necessarily a problem for sailors, some reckon it’s had an impact on the way people think about countries that get minimised by the map.

Robert Dussey: Rewriting the map means restoring to continents in the mind of people the reality of the true dimensions.

Presenter: Over the years, there have been all sorts of attempts to make a more accurate world map, including the Equal Earth map. It was invented by cartographers Bojan Šavrič, Bernhard Jenny and Tom Patterson back in 2018, and shows Earth’s countries and continents in correct proportion to one another.

And recently, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favour of promoting it as the go-to world map.

United Kingdom representative: The United Kingdom has voted in favour of this resolution in good faith.

Presenter: But not everyone is on board, including the United States, which comes out looking a little smaller on the new map.

United States representative: Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th century.

Presenter: But there are plenty of people who are keen to embrace this more accurate depiction of our planet. Does Australia look bigger to you?

Robert Dussey: This adoption comes as the historic moment for Africa and for the world. It affirms the need for a more accurate, more balanced and more geographically faithful representation of our planet. 

© ABC