India, Sept. 10 -- The UN's overwhelming backing for a more accurate map of the world may look like a cartographic correction. But behind the push to reduce Mercator's dominance lies a larger Global South challenge to inherited ways of representing geography, power and place

"A map is not just a picture of the world; it is a picture of how we understand the world." That idea has acquired a new significance at the United Nations, where the General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling for a more accurate representation of the size of the world's continents. In a remarkable vote, 164 countries supported the resolution, the United States voted against it and six countries abstained. Led by Togo, with the backing of the Afr...