164 countries vote to change world map: What it means for Kenya & Africa

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted the ‘Correct the Map’ resolution to correct distortions in how countries are represented in world maps, with Kenya among the countries set to have fairer representation on world maps.

164 countries backed the bid, with six others abstaining and one country voting against it at the UN General Assembly on Friday, September 4, 2026.

The resolution was initiated by Togo on behalf of the African Group in a bid to have the world embrace maps that accurately represent the sizes of continents and countries.

It secured the backing of all African countries before being taken to the global stage where an overwhelming support set the stage for a map makeover to have the continent's true size take shape on world maps.

Some of the world’s most commonly used maps, including under the widely used Mercator projection show Africa and countries near the equator smaller than countries and regions closer to the poles.

Case in point is Greenland which appears to be equal in size to Africa in some maps despite Africa being about 14 times larger.

United States of America is the only country at the UNGA that voted against the resolution which was supported overwhelmingly by 164 nations.

Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained with all African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Algeria, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire backing the proposal.

African Union (AU) celebrated the development in a statement in which the continental body congratulated Togo for spearheading the initiative that will give Africa fairer representation in world maps.

“Congratulations to the delegation of Togo and the African Group on the adoption this morning by the UNGA of resolution A/80/L.104, ‘Correct the Map’", AU noted in a statement.

While welcoming the move, AU noted that it will bring an end to misrepresentation of facts in classrooms, media and international institutions, helping ensure that the world map reflects Africa's actual geographical scale. 

“Today’s resolution promotes equal-area maps like Equal Earth across classrooms, media, and international institutions, ensuring the world map finally reflects Africa’s true scale, weight, and place in the world,” the statement added.

The change will promote the use of more accurate maps that represent Africa's actual geographical scale and will not result in any change in borders, land area or geographical shape.