 "While these changes will be reflected for users in the US, they will not be uniform globally. Google Maps will display the name “Gulf of America” for American users, but for users in Mexico, the Gulf will continue to be referred to as the Gulf of Mexico, in line with Mexico’s official naming conventions. Image Credit: Reuters")
Google Maps is set to comply with an executive order from former President Donald Trump that mandates changes to the names of certain American landmarks.
As part of this move, the Gulf of Mexico will soon be renamed the “Gulf of America,” and Alaska’s Denali mountain will revert to its former name of Mount McKinley in the app. These changes, which are in line with an order issued by Trump last week, will take effect once they are reflected in the official federal mapping database.
Changes reflect Trump’s executive order
In a statement, Google confirmed that it follows government-approved name changes, applying them once they are reflected in official sources like the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” the company wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Google’s updates will soon show the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America for US users. This new name, created by the Trump administration, will be displayed for American users of the app.
In addition, Denali, North America’s highest peak, will be renamed Mount McKinley once again on Google Maps, as it was originally called before the Obama administration officially renamed it Denali in 2015. Despite protests from some Alaskan senators, the Trump administration’s executive order has overridden the previous change, bringing the name back to Mount McKinley.
Geographic name discrepancies for international users
While these changes will be reflected for users in the US, they will not be uniform globally. Google Maps will display the name “Gulf of America” for American users, but for users in Mexico, the Gulf will continue to be referred to as the Gulf of Mexico, in line with Mexico’s official naming conventions. This practice of showing official names by country also applies to other contested geographic names, so in other countries, both the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of America may appear side by side.
When will the changes take effect?
Google states that these changes will go live once the GNIS database is updated. Although the US Department of the Interior confirmed the official name changes on Friday, the GNIS database was still showing the Gulf of Mexico and Denali as of Monday evening. Google will make the updates when the government’s official records are finalised.
For now, American users of Google Maps will begin to see the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley in the app, while international users will see both names reflected depending on their location.