News: UN General Assembly endorsed the Equal Earth projection through the “Correct the Map” resolution.

What is Equal Earth?

• Equal-area, pseudocylindrical map projection developed in 2018.
• Created by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson and Bernhard Jenny.
• Represents continents according to their true relative area with less shape distortion.

Equal Earth vs Mercator

• Mercator: Preserves angles and directions but greatly distorts area, especially near the poles.
• Equal Earth: Preserves area while maintaining more recognisable continental shapes.

Key Features

• True-to-scale landmass areas.
• Straight parallels of latitude.
• Reduced high-latitude distortion.
• Can use different central meridians for regional views.

Significance

• Reduces visual bias about the relative size and importance of regions such as Africa, Latin America and South Asia.
• Provides a more balanced representation of the world’s land area.