The United Nations General Assembly on Friday passed a historic resolution regarding the world map. In this, instead of the old Mercator World Map, the use of such maps has been promoted, in which the size of countries and continents appears closer to their actual area. In the new map, Africa will appear much larger than before, while Europe and North America will appear smaller. The size of some parts of Asia will also appear comparatively smaller. This proposal was presented by Togo and it received the support of the African Union. In the United Nations General Assembly, 164 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 6 countries abstained from voting. America was the only country to vote against the resolution. Why did America oppose the proposal? America strongly criticized this initiative. US Representative Yarina Ferencevich said the UN should focus on real problems of the world, not on debates like changing a 16th century map. He called it an ideological agenda and said that the United Nations is losing its credibility because of such debates. At the same time, the African Union welcomed this decision. He called it a historic step towards making the world map more accurate and equal. What was the problem with the existing map? One of the most used maps in the world is the Mercator map. It was created by European map maker Gerardus Mercator in 1569. A major feature of this map is that it is very useful for determining the path in the sea and for navigation of ships. But due to showing the entire round earth on a flat map, the size of countries and continents appears different from the real one. As an area moves away from the equator, it appears larger than necessary on the map. This is the reason why many areas in the northern and southern parts appear much larger than they actually are. Greenland is the most famous example of this. In the Mercator map, Greenland appears approximately equal to South America. But in reality there is a huge difference in the size of the two. The area of Greenland is about 22 lakh square kilometers. It is approximately equal to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Whereas the area of Africa is about 3 crore square kilometers. That means Africa is about 14 times bigger than Greenland. Still, looking at the Mercator map, the size of both may appear to be almost the same. This is the difference that efforts are now being made to reduce. Why were African countries demanding to change the map? African countries say that it is not just a matter of whether a country or continent looks big or small on the map. The map of the world also decides how we see different parts. In the proposal placed before the UN, it was said that the actual size of Africa appears much smaller in the Mercator map. Seeing such a picture for a long time can create a misconception in people’s minds about the size and global importance of Africa. The proposal also mentions Latin America and South Asia. It says that seeing these areas as small on the map can also lead to the perception of underestimating their development needs, infrastructure and economic potential. Robert Duce, Foreign Minister of the African country Togo, said that maps are not just a means of understanding geography, but they also influence education and people’s thinking. New Zealand was also troubled by the old map. Africa is not the only region that has been complaining about the old map. New Zealand has also been joking about its place on the world map for a long time. In 2018, the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was also seen in a New Zealand tourism advertisement. It was shown in a humorous manner that New Zealand seems to disappear from many maps of the world. In fact, in the Mercator map, New Zealand appears at the very edge at the bottom right. Sometimes it is completely missing from the map. In some variations of the Equal Earth map, Oceania is brought closer to the center. Due to this, the position of countries like Australia and New Zealand also appears more prominent. Will the UN decision apply to everyone? No. This resolution of the United Nations General Assembly is not legally binding. That means it does not force countries, schools, book publishers or tech companies to remove the Mercator map. But this may promote methods of making and teaching maps in which the actual area of countries and continents appears more accurately. There has also been no talk of completely abolishing the Mercator map. It can continue to be used in marine and air navigation, because it has the specialty of keeping directions correct. ————————————- Also read this news… For the first time in 80 years, a woman can become UN Chief: There are currently 8 contenders in the race, 5 of them women; Guyana’s Birkett is the frontrunner who may become the Secretary General of the UN for the first time in its 80-year history. At present there are total 8 contenders in this race. There are 5 women among them. Read the full news…
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UN ने बदला दुनिया का नक्शा, अमेरिका ने विरोध किया: नए मैप में अफ्रीका बड़ा, यूरोप-US छोटे; 164 देशों ने पक्ष में वोट दिया
