The African Union has endorsed a campaign urging governments and international bodies to abandon the 16th-century Mercator map, which distorts Africa’s true size, in favour of more accurate projections.

Designed by cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigation, the map exaggerates regions near the poles, like North America and Greenland, while shrinking Africa and South America.

"It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not," AU Commission deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi told Reuters, saying the Mercator fostered a false impression that Africa was "marginal", despite being the world's second-largest continent by area, with 54 nations and over a billion people.

While the Mercator map has long faced criticism, the ‘Correct The Map’ campaign, led by Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, has reignited the debate, promoting the 2018 Equal Earth projection that better reflects countries’ actual sizes.

"The current size of the map of Africa is wrong," Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, said. "It's the world's longest misinformation and disinformation campaign, and it just simply has to stop."

Fara Ndiaye, co-founder of Speak Up Africa, said the Mercator affected Africans' identity and pride, especially children who might encounter it early in school.

"We're actively working on promoting a curriculum where the Equal Earth projection will be the main standard across all (African) classrooms," Ndiaye said, adding she hoped it would also be the one used by global institutions, including Africa-based ones.

Haddadi said the AU endorsed the campaign, adding it aligned with its goal of "reclaiming Africa's rightful place on the global stage" amid growing calls for reparations for colonialism and slavery.

The AU will argue for wider map adoption and discuss collective actions with member states, Haddadi added.

The Mercator projection is still widely used, including by schools and tech companies. Google Maps switched from Mercator on desktop to a 3D globe view in 2018, though users can still switch back to the Mercator if they prefer.

On the mobile app, however, the Mercator projection remains the default.

'Correct The Map' wants organisations like the World Bank and the United Nations to adopt the Equal Earth map. A World Bank spokesperson said they already use the Winkel-Tripel or Equal Earth for static maps and are phasing out Mercator on web maps.