Geographers and historians have been arguing that the African continent is bigger than it is actually displayed on the world map, but its size was shrunk to a smaller size long time ago. The projection of the world map which is called Mercator map, was created by the 16^th century geographer Gerardus Mercator to plot straight line courses across the ocean for sailors and to make angles and directions stay true on the map. In order to rectify the size distortion of Africa, on 4 September 2026, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted to replace the Mercator world map in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s true size.

Download Mbalo Brief _ September 2026