The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution encouraging governments, schools, international organisations, and technology companies to use equal-area map projections — such as the Equal Earth projection — that more accurately depict the relative size of continents, particularly Africa. The resolution, led by Togo on behalf of African Union member states, passed by 164 votes to one, with the United States casting the sole opposing vote and six countries abstaining; Washington argued the measure was ideological and distracted from more pressing global issues. The initiative targets the dominance of the Mercator projection (a 16th-century navigational tool that dramatically enlarges landmasses near the poles, making Greenland appear comparable in size to Africa despite Africa being roughly 14 times larger), and while it does not ban that projection, supporters describe it as a landmark step toward dismantling what some have called a form of "cartographic colonialism."