What different world maps get right - and what they get wrong - BBC News

As the UN adopts a new world map to reflect Africa's true size, let's take a closer look at what different maps get right and wrong.

Image caption, The Mercator projection is the map widely used across the globe but inaccurately depicts the sizes of countries and continents

The UN has just called for the predominant world map to be replaced with one that more accurately reflects the true size of continents such as Africa.

The "Correct the Map" resolution adopted by the General Assembly aims to fix the discrepancy with the Mercator map, in which the African continent is shown as being of similar size to Greenland - even though it is in reality about 14 times larger.

The UN adopted a new map, the Equal Earth projection, which better represents the true sizes of landmasses - but comes with problems of its own.

There have been many prominent attempts over the years to solve the problem of accurately representing the surface of a sphere on a flat rectangle, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.