Mercato Map: The Original Fake News

You might think: “I thought I was reading an article, not in a geography class?” But just like the size of Africa itself, this map issue is far bigger than it seems.

The Mercator projection, the map most of us grew up with, wasn’t designed to be fair. It was designed in the 16th century to help sailors draw straight navigation lines. Great for ship captains, but not so great for truth. Because when you look at it, Africa appears shrunken. Greenland looks enormous (in reality, Africa is fourteen times bigger). The U.S. and Europe are disproportionately large, while Africa is disproportionally small.

Why does this matter?

The misrepresentation of Africa has been long-standing. And the impact isn’t just about geography textbooks, it runs deeper. The way we picture Africa influences education, media, literature, even global investment. A continent that looks “smaller” becomes easier to sideline.

And then there’s the fact that Europe always seems to be in the centre of the map. That’s not a happy accident, it’s political. Rooted in colonialism and empire. Europe was positioned as the centre of the world and then called everywhere else the “Middle East,” the “Far East,” or the “West Indies.” Subtle? Not really. It’s like drawing a group photo where you always put yourself in the middle and crop everyone else at the edges. OK, we all have a friend who does that, but that’s beside the point. 

Correct the Map

That’s why the Correct the Map campaign has taken off, backed by the African Union, Africa No Filter, and Speak Up Africa. The campaign argues for adopting the Equal Earth projection, which was created in 2018 to actually represent the true proportions of countries. Africa, finally, would be seen as the giant it really is.

And this isn’t just cosmetic. It’s about self-perception. If you’re a child in Lagos or London growing up seeing Africa squeezed to the corner of the page, what story does that tell you? Conversely, if you see the continent as vast, central, and powerful, that story changes.

Africa > Greenland (Global Majority > Ethnic Minority)

There are parallels between the map conversation and conversations we often have with clients about inclusive language. We always emphasise principles over lists of “right” and “wrong” words, because language changes constantly. Understanding why certain terms resonate or don’t is far more useful than memorising a constantly changing vocabulary sheet.

When I first heard the term global majority, I actually stopped in my tracks. As a white person, it dawned on me: wait a second, that makes me the minority. 

Did it feel comfortable? 

Not especially. 

But that is, of course, the point. It gave me a glimpse of what it must feel like for groups labelled “ethnic minority” in the UK. 

There are pros and cons with any term. Some people identify with the term global majority, others don’t. But a key point is that the phrase wasn’t handed down by outsiders; it was created and claimed by the people it describes. The term “ethnic minority” too has pros and cons, it does acknowledge the demographic picture in the UK, and but it also quietly centres whiteness as the norm. 

Explaining the term ‘global majority’ simply: if I lived in the UK and did not have white skin, I would be in the minority, but on a global scale, I would be in the majority. According to UN census data, the most populous countries in the world are 1) India, 2) China 3) The United States of America, 4) Indonesia,  5) Pakistan, 6) Nigeria and 7) Brazil.  So if you were to imagine an ‘average’ global citizen, the chances are they won’t be white.

Although much of our thinking, advertising, marketing and media is still based nationally, I wonder how much our representation is actually representative when we think ‘globally’ and for our colleagues, clients and friends who aren’t white - do they feel more like a country squeezed to the sides or one at the centre, fully and authentically represented and taking up space. 

Conversations about language deserve their own conversation, so I’ll save that for another day. For now, I’m just enjoying the reminder that the UK and Europe more broadly is not, in fact, the centre of the world. 

The maps just made it look that way.