The UN Is Voting on Whether to Phase Out the Mercator Projection

The Correct the Map campaign (previously) has come to the United Nations. The Guardian:

The UN general assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size.

Robert Dussey, Togo’s foreign affairs minister, said the resolution was sponsored by Togo and backed by countries including the African Union’s 54 other member states. He did not specify the total number. […]

UN resolutions are non-enforceable but if the vote passes, it could lead to an update of classroom curriculums and everyday technology, given the wide usage of the Mercator projection in education, technology and governance.

I’m still confused about the so-called “wide usage” of the Mercator projection, given that I see so little of it myself—even Apple and Google zoom out to a globe if you have reasonably new hardware and in the latter case have globe view checked—that when I do see it (usually choropleth maps embedded on web pages) I’m kind of shocked. But I’m Western and English-speaking, I have up-to-date tech and I know where to find the good maps, and I haven’t been in a classroom in decades; I can’t rule out that Mercator is still turning up where I don’t see it.

Previously: In Case You Thought the War Against the Mercator Projection Was Over Long Ago.