Japan, India, Ukraine: Why some countries are uneasy about new UN map

The countries are not opposed to a new map per se; they’re testy about the colour shades.

A man stands on a world map in Lisbon on December 26, 2012 [File: AFP]

In a historic move last week, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to encourage the use of new world maps which more accurately depict continents with their true sizes.

The move followed months of lobbying by the African Union, which itself adopted a new map earlier in February. A total of 164 countries voted in favour while six abstained.

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The United States was the only member to oppose it. US representative Yaryna Ferencevych said before the vote that the resolution was “the reason this institution is losing its credibility”.

“Instead of focusing on genuine problems … this body is debating map projects from the 16th century,” she said.

But since the resolution was approved, at least three other countries have voiced concerns about the changes: India, Ukraine and Japan.

None are explicitly opposed to adopting a new projection. However, they are raising concerns about how certain disputed territories should be depicted.

Here’s what we know:

Why is there a new world map?

The UN endorsed a resolution promoting the Equal Earth projection of the world map, rather than the Mercator projection, which is currently widely used.

The resolution does not ban Mercator or impose a particular replacement – it merely encourages nations to adopt the Equal Earth version, which was created by three researchers in 2018.

The Mercator projection, which was produced by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569 when the West was busy “conquering” new territories, attempts to show a three-dimensional globe on a two-dimensional surface. That is why countries closer to the poles appear much larger than countries at the equator.

For decades, map experts have pointed out that Mercator’s projection disproportionately shrinks the true size of the African continent and that of other developing regions, while making Europe and the US seem much larger by comparison.

For example, Greenland is shown as roughly the same size as Africa, but, in reality, it could fit into the continent 14 times over. Europe, which is portrayed as bigger than South America, is actually half its size.

Advocates from African countries pointed out that the map is problematic because of the size issues. Importantly, they argued, it reinforces negative perceptions of Africa.

Several cartographers have attempted to develop equal area maps. However, African activists specifically pushed for the Equal Earth projection map, which significantly expands Africa and shrinks Europe and the US.

Experts say while maps are inherently inaccurate because of the constraints of depicting a spherical world on a flat plane, the Equal Earth projection is as close as it gets.

Why is Ukraine worried about the new map?

Ukraine was one of six countries which abstained from the vote at the UNGA, along with Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia and Lithuania, who voted in solidarity with Ukraine.

Kyiv has complained that the Equal Earth projection depicts the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula in a distinctly lighter shade than mainland Ukraine.

Russia illegally occupied and annexed Crimea in February 2014, a move the UN has denounced.

Although the peninsula is also shaded differently from mainland Russia on the new map, its yellowish tint appears closer to the Russian shade than Ukraine’s.

“Ukraine does not in principle oppose the core issue addressed in this draft resolution,” Andrii Melnyk, the country’s permanent representative to the UN, said in an address to the assembly.

Melnyk said Kyiv had asked for corrections before the vote but had not received positive responses. The new map, he said, could be tantamount to opening a Pandora’s box, enabling the “abuse and distortion” of the world map.

“It would be a truly fatal mistake for all of us, and for this General Assembly, to seek to correct a historical injustice in the geographical depiction of countries and continents by simultaneously allowing a deeply troubling interpretation of the text of this draft resolution,” he added.

What is Japan demanding?

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Tokyo, which voted in favour of the new map, said it had also asked for corrections to the Equal Earth projection because the map uses the same colours and shades for Russian territory as it does for the disputed Kuril Islands.

Russia and Japan have long fought over control of the four islands, known in Russia as the Southern Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories. In 1945, during World War II, the Soviet Union invaded and annexed the islands as part of a pact with Western Allies that stipulated the Soviets would take the disputed territory. The islands’ Japanese inhabitants were removed.

Subsequently, Japan and the US have claimed that the islands were not part of the original pact. The islands, however, remain under Russian administration.

In August this year, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin paid his first-ever visit to the islands, drawing condemnation from Japan. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit “absolutely unacceptable”, saying it “offends the sentiments of the Japanese people”.

This week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the Japanese embassy in the US has asked Equal Earth’s creators to change the map.

“Displays that contradict the Japanese government’s position are seen [on the map],” Kihara said at a news conference. “We need to prevent incorrect perceptions regarding our country’s territories and geographical names from spreading.”

Why is India uneasy about the map?

India also voted in favour of the Equal Earth projection, but on Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs published a caveat regarding depictions of the disputed border territory of Kashmir.

Following the Indian partition of 1947, both Pakistan and India lay claim to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, which had been controlled by the British through indirect rule. The region has subsequently been a flashpoint for tensions between the two rivals and has led to several wars.

Parts of Kashmir are administered by Pakistan, while other parts are administered by India. China, which also disputes some Kashmir territory with India, administers its northeastern portion.

In his statement, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal noted that the UN vote was in favour of encouraging the use of equal area projections and that it had not made the use of any one map mandatory.

“India’s sovereign territory, including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be depicted in accordance with India’s official map,” he said. “Any inaccurate or misleading depiction is unacceptable.”

这些国家并非反对新地图本身；他们只是对地图的颜色深浅有异议。

2012年12月26日，一名男子站在里斯本的世界地图上。[图片：法新社]

上周，联合国大会以压倒性多数投票通过了一项历史性决议，鼓励使用新的世界地图，以更准确地描绘各大洲的真实大小。

此前，非洲联盟进行了数月的游说，并于2月初通过了新的非洲地图。共有164个国家投了赞成票，6个国家弃权。

联合国批准新地图，显示非洲真实面积（共4份，第1份）

列表 2/4 你能猜出新世界地图上每个国家的实际面积吗？

列表 3/4 地图一直在骗你：为什么联合国改变了我们看待非洲的方式

列表 4/4：地图和图表：俄罗斯和乌克兰对平民目标的袭击

美国是唯一投反对票的成员国。美国众议员亚琳娜·费伦采维奇在投票前表示，该决议是“该机构失去信誉的原因”。

“与其关注真正的问题……这个机构却在讨论16世纪的地图项目，”她说。

但自该决议获得通过以来，至少还有三个国家对这些变化表示担忧：印度、乌克兰和日本。

他们均未明确反对采用新的投影方式。然而，他们对某些争议领土的描绘方式表示担忧。

我们目前掌握的情况如下：

为什么会有一张新的世界地图？

联合国通过了一项决议，推广使用“平等地球”投影法绘制世界地图，而不是目前广泛使用的墨卡托投影法。

该决议并未禁止墨卡托投影或强制使用特定的替代方案——它只是鼓励各国采用由三位研究人员于 2018 年创建的“平等地球”投影。

墨卡托投影法由佛兰德制图师杰拉杜斯·墨卡托于1569年发明，当时西方正忙于“征服”新的领土。该投影法试图在二维平面上展现三维地球。这就是为什么靠近两极的国家看起来比赤道附近的国家大得多。

几十年来，地图专家一直指出，墨卡托投影不成比例地缩小了非洲大陆和其他发展中地区的真实面积，而相比之下，欧洲和美国看起来要大得多。

例如，格陵兰岛在图中看起来与非洲面积大致相同，但实际上，它的体积可以装进非洲大陆14次。欧洲在图中被描绘得比南美洲大，但实际上它的面积只有南美洲的一半。

来自非洲国家的倡导者指出，这张地图存在尺寸问题。更重要的是，他们认为，这张地图强化了人们对非洲的负面印象。

一些制图师曾尝试绘制等面积地图。然而，非洲活动家特别力推“等面积地球”投影地图，该地图大幅扩大了非洲的面积，同时缩小了欧洲和美国的面积。

专家表示，虽然地图由于需要在平面上描绘球形世界而存在固有的不准确性，但等距地球投影已经是最接近真实世界的投影方式了。

乌克兰为何对新地图感到担忧？

乌克兰是联合国大会上投弃权票的六个国家之一，其他五个国家分别是爱沙尼亚、格鲁吉亚、摩尔多瓦、塞尔维亚和立陶宛，它们投弃权票是为了声援乌克兰。

基辅方面抱怨说，“平等地球”投影将俄罗斯占领的克里米亚半岛描绘得比乌克兰大陆颜色明显浅。

俄罗斯于 2014 年 2 月非法占领并吞并了克里米亚，这一举动受到了联合国的谴责。

虽然在新地图上，该半岛的颜色与俄罗斯大陆的颜色不同，但它的黄色色调似乎比乌克兰的色调更接近俄罗斯的颜色。

“乌克兰原则上不反对该决议草案所提出的核心问题，”乌克兰常驻联合国代表安德烈·梅尔尼克在大会上发表讲话时说。

梅尔尼克表示，基辅方面在投票前曾要求对地图进行修正，但未得到积极回应。他说，新地图可能如同打开潘多拉魔盒，导致世界地图遭到“滥用和歪曲”。

他补充说：“如果我们试图通过允许对本决议草案文本进行令人深感不安的解释来纠正国家和大陆地理描述方面的历史不公正，那对我们所有人以及本届大会来说都将是一个真正致命的错误。”

日本的要求是什么？

与此同时，东京方面周四表示，他们也要求对“平等地球”投影进行修正，因为该地图对俄罗斯领土和有争议的千岛群岛使用了相同的颜色和色调。东京此前已投票赞成新地图。

俄罗斯和日本长期以来一直争夺这四个岛屿的控制权，俄罗斯称之为南千岛群岛，日本称之为北方四岛。1945年，二战期间，苏联入侵并吞并了这些岛屿，这是苏联与西方盟国达成的一项条约的一部分，该条约规定苏联将占领这片争议领土。岛上的日本居民被驱逐。

随后，日本和美国声称这些岛屿并非原条约的涵盖范围。然而，这些岛屿目前仍处于俄罗斯的管辖之下。

今年8月，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京首次访问了这些岛屿，此举招致日本的谴责。日本首相高市早苗称此次访问“绝对不可接受”，并表示这“冒犯了日本人民的感情”。

本周，日本内阁官房长官木原稔表示，日本驻美国大使馆已要求“平等地球”的创建者修改地图。

木原在新闻发布会上表示：“地图上出现了与日本政府立场相悖的显示内容。我们需要防止有关我国领土和地名的错误认知传播。”

印度为何对这张地图感到不安？

印度也投票赞成“平等地球”投影，但周日，外交部发布了一份警告，指出投影中涉及有争议的克什米尔边境地区。

1947年印巴分治后，巴基斯坦和印度都对原查谟和克什米尔邦提出主权声索，该地区此前一直由英国通过间接统治控制。此后，该地区一直是印巴两国紧张关系的爆发点，并引发了多次战争。

克什米尔部分地区由巴基斯坦管辖，部分地区由印度管辖。中国也与印度存在克什米尔领土争议，中国管辖着克什米尔东北部地区。

发言人兰迪尔·贾斯瓦尔在声明中指出，联合国投票赞成鼓励使用等面积投影，但并未强制要求使用任何一种地图。

他说：“印度的主权领土，包括查谟和克什米尔以及拉达克两个联邦属地，必须按照印度的官方地图进行描绘。任何不准确或误导性的描绘都是不可接受的。”