UN backs new world map, Baltic states split in vote
The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution promoting a more geographically accurate world map that also changes how Latvia and other countries appear, but the Baltic states voted differently on it. Latvia supported the resolution, while Lithuania and Estonia abstained over how Crimea is depicted.
On September 4, the UN General Assembly adopted the "Correct the Map" resolution, calling for replacing the traditional Mercator projection with a more accurate equal-area map. The Mercator projection, created in 1569 for navigation purposes, distorts the relative size of territories — the farther from the equator, the larger a territory appears. As a result, Africa looks roughly the same size as Greenland on such maps, though it is actually about 14 times larger.
The alternative "Equal Earth" projection, developed in 2018, more accurately reflects the true proportions of countries and continents. All African Union member states already decided to adopt it back in February this year. The resolution, proposed by Togo and backed by the African Union, was approved by 164 countries at the UN, including Latvia, which joined the majority position of the European Union.
Baltic states diverged in their decisions
Only the United States voted against the resolution, while six countries abstained — Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Serbia. The foreign ministries of Lithuania and Estonia explained that their abstention was driven by how occupied Crimea is depicted on the "Equal Earth" website referenced in the resolution, shown separately from Ukraine. Both countries stressed their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
Latvia's mission to the UN stated that the vote does not concern border issues and that Crimea remains part of Ukraine both on UN maps and under international law. The European Union and the United Kingdom, while supporting the resolution, likewise emphasized it does not affect state sovereignty or recognized borders, and sharply condemned Russia's attempt to annex Crimea.
Russia, meanwhile, backed the resolution, claiming it "legalizes" its 2014 annexation of Crimea, even though the peninsula is shown in a different color from both Russia and Ukraine on the new map. The US representative criticized the resolution, saying it distracts from more pressing international issues.
