The Equal Earth Map: Seeing the World at Its True Size

The world map on the classroom wall always told us the same story: Greenland is almost as big as Africa, and Europe sits large in the middle of everything. The reality is very different. Africa is about 14 times larger than Greenland. In this post we look at the Equal Earth map, which shows the world in its true proportions: where it came from, how it works, and why it reached the floor of the United Nations this year. And at the end, we have some news of our own.

Equal Earth political world map, Greenwich (0°) centered. Map: Tom Patterson, equal-earth.com (public domain).

The problem: why the map we grew up with misleads us

There is no perfect way to flatten a round planet onto a sheet of paper. Every map projection gives something up: shape, area, distance or direction. The best-known example is the Mercator projection, created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator for sailors. It is brilliant for navigation because it preserves angles. The price is steep: the farther a country is from the equator, the bigger it looks.

The result? Greenland looks as large as Africa, Europe and North America swell, and Africa, South America and South Asia shrink. For centuries this picture has hung in classrooms, filled textbooks and powered digital maps, quietly shaping how we see the world.

How Equal Earth was born

The story starts in 2017, when Boston Public Schools announced it was replacing Mercator with the area-accurate Gall-Peters projection. The decision made headlines worldwide. But Gall-Peters had its own flaw: it got the areas right while stretching the continents vertically, making them look melted.

Three cartographers, Bojan Šavrič, Bernhard Jenny and Tom Patterson, set out to design an alternative that was both area-accurate and pleasing to the eye. Their Equal Earth projection was published in August 2018 in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Geographical Information Science and quickly became one of the journal's most-read papers. That same year, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies became one of the first institutions to use it, mapping global temperature anomalies.

What makes Equal Earth different

• True relative size: Every country and continent appears at its real size compared with the others. You may see how big Africa really is for the first time.
• Natural, balanced shapes: The curved outer edges hint at the Earth's roundness, so continents look neither stretched nor squashed.
• Straight lines of latitude: Parallel latitude lines let you compare at a glance which city lies farther north or south.
• Robinson's beauty, with accuracy: The designers took inspiration from the Robinson projection, long used by National Geographic, and fixed its area distortion.

The same projection centered on the Americas (90°W). Map: Tom Patterson, equal-earth.com.

2026: the map debate reaches the UN

Over the past two years Equal Earth moved beyond the world of cartographers and into the global conversation. The Correct the Map campaign, launched by Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, urged international organizations to use Equal Earth instead of Mercator. The African Union adopted Equal Earth in February 2026.

Then, on September 4, 2026, the UN General Assembly adopted the "Correct the Map" resolution with 164 votes in favor. It encourages wider use of equal-area projections such as Equal Earth in education and public communication. The resolution is non-binding: it does not ban Mercator or create a single official map. But the message is clear: seeing the world in its true proportions is now treated as a need, not a niche preference.

Beyond politics: the Equal Earth Physical Map

Alongside the political map, Tom Patterson created the Equal Earth Physical Map. There are no borders here. Instead you get mountains, rivers, lakes, vegetation and the ocean floor, with more than 3,000 labels that give context without clutter. On a wall it works as both a reference and a piece of art.

Equal Earth Physical Map. Map: Tom Patterson, equal-earth.com (public domain).

Big news: the Equal Earth physical map is coming to ColorfullWorlds

At ColorfullWorlds we bring the world to your walls. Reading the Equal Earth story made one thing obvious to us: a map that shows the world at its true size belongs on the walls of homes, offices and kids' rooms.

That's why we're turning the Equal Earth physical world map into a layered wooden wall map. We're in the final stages of preparation and will launch it very soon.

A physical map is made for layered wood. The mountains, plateaus and ocean depths that paper can only suggest with color gain real depth as wooden layers stack on top of each other. As the light changes through the day, so do the shadows, and the map comes alive on your wall.

• True proportions: Continents and oceans at their real relative size, in the Equal Earth projection
• Layered wooden depth: Stacked land and sea layers create a three-dimensional look
• Natural texture: The warmth of wood meets the natural colors of the physical map
• A meaningful gift: From kids' rooms to offices, wall decor that shows the world as it really is

Be the first to know. Join our newsletter to get the launch date and early-order offers.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Equal Earth map more accurate?

Equal Earth is an equal-area projection: every region is shown in proportion to its real surface area. Mercator enlarges areas toward the poles in order to preserve angles.

How is Equal Earth different from Gall-Peters?

Both preserve area. Gall-Peters stretches continents vertically, while Equal Earth's curved design keeps shapes far more natural.

Is the Mercator map now considered wrong?

No. Mercator is still very useful for navigation and web maps. It just isn't suited to comparing the sizes of countries. The UN resolution doesn't ban it; it encourages equal-area maps in education.

Map images in this post are Equal Earth maps by Tom Patterson, released into the public domain at equal-earth.com. Sources: Šavrič, Jenny & Patterson (2018), International Journal of Geographical Information Science; Esri ArcUser; UN General Assembly resolution A/80/L.104 (September 4, 2026).