US Casts Lone Vote Against UN Africa Map

Yaryna Ferencevych, a U.S. representative at the UN, said the resolution mocked the purpose of the General Assembly. "Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th Century, and their role in promoting reparations and 'cognitive justice,'" she said. The U.S. called the effort an "ideological agenda" and a distraction.

Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey framed it as a matter of accuracy. "A fair world begins with a fair map," he told Reuters ahead of the vote. Before the vote he added: "Maps shape our understanding of the world. They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot backed the change on X: "Changing the map obviously doesn't change the world. But correcting a representation that distorts it is already an act of truth."

Africa No Filter, a lead campaigner, said: "We want to see accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, businesses and on the digital platforms billions of people use every day." The online campaign group #CorrectTheMap told the BBC: "You could fit the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe into Africa and still have land to spare."

Mark Monmonier, a Syracuse University geography professor, said the old map has one job left. "Outside of that very narrow navigation application, there is no point in using it," he said.