The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to back a resolution spearheaded by several African countries to adopt a map that makes their continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe.

Aimed at “a more accurate representation” of continental landmasses, the resolution was supported by 164 countries while the US voted against it and six other states abstained.

The new map – known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection – “is a relevant option for improving the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world”, the resolution said.

It urges member states to adopt the new map in place of the traditional Mercator projection, which was designed for maritime navigation by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.

Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, which drove the resolution, said maps “guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions”.

“They are therefore never neutral, when they present a distorted image of our planet, they risk perpetuating inaccurate representation that are passed down through generation.”