National Geographic to include Crimea as a part of Russia on new maps

While the rest of the Western world refuses to accept Russia’s annexation by force of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, National Geographic was quick to recognize the territorial takeover.

The popular American-based publication has decided to include Crimea as part of Russia in their maps once the Russian Duma votes to formally annex the peninsula.

On Tuesday, National Geographic’s editorial, legal, and map-making leadership met to discuss how the magazine should depict Crimea.

“We map de facto, in other words we map the world as it is, not as people would like it to be,” Juan José Valdés, National Geographic’s geographer and director of editorial and research for National Geographic Maps, told U.S. News.