Mercator projection
The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection devised by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It represents meridians as straight, equally spaced vertical lines and parallels as horizontal lines whose spacing increases toward the poles. The projection became standard for nautical navigation because it preserves rhumb lines as straight, simplifying course plotting, but it dramatically inflates areas at high latitudes, making Greenland and Antarctica appear far larger than they are. Since the late twentieth century it has been widely criticized by cartographers and international bodies for distorting the relative size of countries and reinforcing a Eurocentric worldview.
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UN adopts Equal Earth map as Ukraine abstains over Crimea depiction
The UN General Assembly adopted the Equal Earth world map projection on September 4, with 164 states voting in favor and the United States against. Ukraine abstained because the map shows occupied Crimea separated from the rest of Ukraine in a lighter shade distinct from both Ukrainian and Russian coloring. Ukraine's Permanent Mission warned that the depiction could "open a Pandora's box" and contradict UN resolutions on Ukraine's territorial integrity.