Google Maps updated its naming conventions to reflect the new naming conventions of US users. The body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico is now called the “Gulf of America.”
The change is a result of an executive order signed in 2017 by the former US President Donald Trump. He wanted to “honor American Greatness” by renaming geographical features that were linked to American History.
Google released a statement on Monday that said: “People in the US using Maps will see Gulf of America and people in Mexico, Gulf of Mexico. Everyone else will be able to see both names.”
Google has a long-standing policy of aligning geographic names with official sources.
The Executive Order, entitled “Restoring Names that Honour American Greatness”, (Executive order 14172), instructs US Secretary of Interior to implement name change within 30 day.
The White House statement that accompanied the order defines the newly-named Gulf as “the US Continental Shelf area bordered to the northeast, northwest, and north by Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, extending up to the maritime boundary between Mexico and Cuba.”
Mount McKinley has not yet changed its name.
The renaming was part of Trump’s larger effort to restore names “that reflect America’s historic legacy.”
The order also includes provisions to change the name of Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest peak.
Former President Barack Obama changed Mount McKinley’s name to Denali in 2015, the indigenous name of the mountain used by the Koyukon Athabascans for centuries.
Trump’s order criticised this move as an “affront to President McKinley’s life, achievements, and sacrifice.”
It also drew parallels with McKinley, noting McKinley’s “championing of tariffs” and his assassination “in an assault on our Nation’s values and success.”
The Mount McKinley name change is not yet in effect on Google Maps.
Secretary Doug Burgum shared a screenshot of X with the words “It’s Official!”
Mixed reactions and international response
Trump’s decision renamed the Gulf has sparked strong domestic and international reactions.
In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested sarcastically that North America be renamed “Mexican America”.
Some Trump supporters in the US have welcomed the change as a symbol of reclaiming American Identity.
Critics, however, argue that this move is unnecessary and political motivated.
The renaming Mount Denali has also sparked backlash from Indigenous groups of Alaska who view the attempt to change the name as a dismissal of their cultural heritage.
Trump reaffirmed his position during a flight on Air Force One over the Gulf en route to New Orleans for the Super Bowl, calling the renaming “historic” and reinstating “American Pride in our nation’s History and Achievements.”
This post Why Google calls the Gulf of Mexico Gulf of America to US users may be updated as new information unfolds.
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