Why don't our maps show the true size of Africa? - What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

The African Union has backed calls to stop using the Mercator map of the world.

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The Mercator projection, a map that’s been around for over 450 years and which most people use, distorts size. It stretches land masses farther from the equator. It can make Greenland looks the same size as Africa, when in reality Africa is actually around 14 times bigger.

Campaigners want schools, organisations and governments to use a different one - the Equal Earth map. And now the African Union, which represents all 55 states on the continent, has endorsed the “Correct the Map” campaign.

The BBC’s Makuochi Okafor explains some of the arguments for switching to a different map and also the wider implications of showing Africa as smaller than it really is.

Moky Makura, from Africa No Filter, tells us what her organisation is hoping to achieve with the Correct the Map campaign. Plus Edwin Rijkaart, known to his YouTube subscribers as Geodiode tells us why we use the Mercator projection in the first place.

00:00 Intro
00:54 What is this campaign?
02:29 Why do they think this change is important?
03:57 How did we end up with the Mercator map?
06:02 Why is this campaign happening now?
07:01 How is this campaign going so far?
08:41 Does the Mercator map affect Africa?
09:48 Outro

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Benita Barden, Chelsea Coates and Abiona Boja
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Editor: Verity Wilde

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