India, Japan and Ukraine have voiced unease over the depiction of disputed territories on a new world map projection endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly last week, even as none of the three countries opposed the underlying principle of using more accurate equal-area maps.
The assembly voted by a wide margin to encourage the adoption of the Equal Earth projection, which better reflects the true relative sizes of continents than the long-dominant Mercator projection. The resolution, backed by the African Union, passed with 164 votes in favour and six abstentions. The United States was the sole country to vote against it.
US representative Yaryna Ferencevych criticised the initiative before the vote, saying the resolution was “the reason this institution is losing its credibility” and arguing that the body was “debating map projects from the 16th century” instead of addressing genuine problems.
Ukraine, which abstained along with several other European states, objected to the way the Equal Earth map shades the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. Kyiv noted that Crimea appears in a lighter tone than mainland Ukraine and closer in colour to Russian territory.
“Ukraine does not in principle oppose the core issue addressed in this draft resolution,” Ukraine’s permanent representative Andrii Melnyk told the assembly. He warned that the map could open a “Pandora’s box” allowing the “abuse and distortion” of cartography and said it would be a “truly fatal mistake” to correct one historical injustice while permitting a troubling interpretation of disputed territories.
Japan, which voted in favour of the resolution, has asked the map’s creators to revise the colouring of the disputed Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories. Tokyo said the islands are currently shown in the same shade as Russian territory.
“Displays that contradict the Japanese government’s position are seen [on the map],” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said. “We need to prevent incorrect perceptions regarding our country’s territories and geographical names from spreading.”
India, which also supported the resolution, issued a formal caveat through its Ministry of External Affairs. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stressed that the UN vote merely encouraged equal-area projections and did not mandate any specific map.
“India’s sovereign territory, including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be depicted in accordance with India’s official map,” he said. “Any inaccurate or misleading depiction is unacceptable.”
The Equal Earth projection, developed in 2018, significantly enlarges Africa and other equatorial regions while reducing the apparent size of Europe and North America compared with the Mercator map.
