Australia gets a new shape in world map – as debate erupts over controversial changes

Australia is set to appear bigger and slightly tilted to the right in a new world map approved by the United Nations.

The UN General Assembly voted to back the Equal Earth cartographic projection in a bid to provide what it described as a ‘more accurate representation’ of the world’s land masses.

Australia appears broader and more slanted on the map, making the country look noticeably different from what most people are familiar with.

The UN urged member states to use the map in place of the centuries-old Mercator projection, designed in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Geradus Mercator.

The Mercator projection keeps coastlines and directions familiar, but stretches countries closer to the North and South Poles, making some appear bigger than they actually are.

The new Equal Earth projection aims to show countries closer to their true size, although their shapes and sizes can look slightly different.

Australia’s new appearance sparked jokes on Reddit after users were shown side-by-side comparisons of the country before and after the changes.

‘We’ve been italicised!’ one said.

 ‘I would say it was a bold move but this isn’t a sub for puns,’ a second said.

‘I see which angle they’re coming from,’ another said. 

‘Why does the new Australia look like it’s just been inside a Domino’s pizza delivery box?’ a fourth said. 

Others criticised the UN’s decision.

‘United Nations hard at work tackling the biggest problems affecting the world – a new map,’ one said.

‘Forget hunger, natural disaster responses, conflict resolution… let’s redraw the world map and pat ourselves on the back for being such clever and enlightened delegates,’ a second said.

The new map would also see Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia appear larger than on traditional Mercator maps while Europe and North America would shrink. 

While the Mercator projection accurately displayed coastlines and angles, it often exaggerated the size of some regions at the expense of others. 

Some 164 countries supported the motion and six states abstained, while the US was the only country to vote against the change. 

Robert Dussey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Togo, led the proposal because he felt it helped shape how younger generations understand the world. 

‘[Maps] guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions,’ he said. 

‘They are therefore never neutral, when they present a distorted image of our planet, they risk perpetuating inaccurate representation that are passed down through generation.’

However, US representative Yaryna Ferencevych said there were more pressing issues to deal with than how countries appeared on a map.

‘Instead of focusing on genuine problems … this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice,’ she said. 

France has already announced that it will ditch the Mercator projection in favour of the Equal Earth cartographic projection. 

‘[In that map] the United States, Russia and China take on a disproportionate visual prominence compared to Africa, Latin America or south-east Asia, [while] Greenland appears almost as big as Africa,’ France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

‘Changing maps obviously doesn’t change the world. 

‘But correcting a distorted representation is already an act of truth.’