“We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources”
By Nileena Sunil
The Gulf of Mexico will show up as “Gulf of America” for U.S. users, following a name-change implemented by President Donald Trump in an executive order during his first week at the White House.
Trump had issued an executive order to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali, the highest peak in America. This was followed up by a statement from the U.S. Department of the Interior issued on Jan. 24, which stated that the name changes were official.
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While “Gulf of America” is a new name created by the Trump administration, Denali would be changed back to “Mount McKinley,” a name given to the mountain after America’s 25th President William McKinley. The peak’s name was officially changed to “Denali” during the Obama administration in 2015. Since Denali is the name used by Alaska’s indigenous populations, Trump’s name change has been opposed by several Alaskans, including lawmakers.
“We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.” Google announced via a post on X on Monday.
While Denali would show up as Mount McKinley for users all over the world following the implementation of the changes, Gulf of Mexico would show up as Gulf of America only for users in the U.S., since the change is being implemented only in the country.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected the name change, stating that Mexico and the rest of the world would continue to use the name “Gulf of Mexico”.
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“Also long standing practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too,” Google stated on X, clarifying that the water body would continue to show up as “Gulf of Mexico” in Mexico, and both names would be shown in other countries.