Google Maps has officially renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for users in the United States, following an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The change was implemented after the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the U.S. government’s official database for place names, updated its records.
While users in the U.S. now see the Gulf of America, those in Mexico continue to see the Gulf of Mexico.
For the rest of the world, both names appear side by side.
Google Follows Government Naming Standards
Google previously stated that it applies name changes when they are updated in official government sources.
The company confirmed it would update Maps in the U.S. after GNIS made the modifications.
The database, which standardizes geographical names for federal use, contains over two million physical and cultural features across the U.S. and its territories.
In the same announcement, Google said it would also rename Mount Denali in Alaska back to Mount McKinley once the GNIS officially updates it.
The peak, North America’s highest, was originally named Denali by the Indigenous Koyukon Athabascan people.
It was renamed Mount McKinley in 1917 in honour of former U.S. President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.
The name was restored to Denali in 2015 under former President Barack Obama’s administration.
However, Trump’s executive order directed the Secretary of the Interior to implement the name changes within 30 days and update the GNIS accordingly.
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