New Delhi, Aug. 20 -- The African Union has joined a growing campaign to challenge centuries of cartographic distortion that has long diminished Africa's true scale on world maps. The bloc of 55 nations recently endorsed the use of alternatives to the widely taught Mercator projection, arguing that the shift is about dignity, power and reclaiming Africa's rightful place in the global imagination.

The Mercator projection was developed in the 16th century by German cartographer Gerardus Mercator. It was designed for navigation, ensuring sailors could plot straight-line courses across oceans. But this navigational convenience came at a cost: the projection distorts land size as it moves away from the equator.

Regions near the poles, such a...