Maps Are Not Neutral: Cartographers Challenge Old Western Bias
Listen to the story
Maps show us the world. But maps are not always fair. Some cartographers say maps have a bias. This means maps often favor the West.
For a long time, many world maps made Africa look small. In real life, Africa is very big. Some mapmakers now want to fix this problem.
These mapmakers say a map is never neutral. This means a map always shows a point of view. Someone decides what to show and how to show it.
This idea is called decolonizing maps. It means removing old unfair ideas from maps. These old ideas came from powerful Western countries long ago.
Political situations change fast today. Because of this, people look at maps more closely. They want maps that show the true size and shape of countries.
The mapmakers hope new maps will be more accurate. They want people to understand the real world better.
Vocabulary15 words
- cartographers
- people who make maps
- bias
- favoring one side unfairly
- neutral
- fair; not favoring anyone
- decolonizing
- removing old unfair power and ideas
- accurate
- correct; true
- continent
- a very big area of land, like Africa
- perception
- how people see or understand something
- western
- from Europe or North America
- size
- how big something is
- shape
- the outer form of something
- power
- control or strength over others
- fair
- equal and just
- correct
- to fix a mistake
- point of view
- how one person sees things
- old ideas
- ways of thinking from the past
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Maps are never neutral 2. Made it look smaller than it is 3. False
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Maps show us the world. But maps are not always _____.
Some cartographers say maps have a _____.
For a long time, many world maps made _____ look small.
In real life, Africa is very _____.
These mapmakers say a map is never _____.
This idea is called _____ maps.
Political situations change _____ today.
The mapmakers hope new maps will be more _____.
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