Google Maps will show “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico” for U.S. users after official government sources update the name, as ordered by President Donald Trump last week. The change follows Google’s policy on how to handle names of places with disputed titles.

The company explained that it has a regular practice of changing names on its maps when those names are updated in official government sources, like the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) in the U.S.

Once the GNIS updates to show “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico” and “Mount McKinley” instead of “Mount Denali,” Google Maps will make the same changes.

The company said this follows its usual practice of showing the official local name of a place when different countries use different names.

This means that U.S. users will see “Gulf of America,” users in Mexico will see “Gulf of Mexico,” and people from other countries will see both names on the map.

How Does Google Handle Disputed Place Names?

Google Maps has faced criticism for how it shows disputed borders and locations. Now, it shows different results based on where the user is searching from. For example, in India, Kashmir is shown as part of India. But if you look at it from outside India, Kashmir is shown as a disputed area, with parts marked as controlled by Pakistan and China. Another example is a body of water, which is called the “Sea of Japan” for users in Japan, but the “East Sea” for users in South Korea. For people outside Japan and South Korea, it’s labeled as “Sea of Japan (East Sea).”

Key Background

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The order explained that the new name would show the importance of the Gulf to the country’s economy. The order also said the highest mountain in the U.S. should be renamed from Denali to Mount McKinley, the name it had before 2015. According to the order, the Secretary of the Interior has 30 days to update the name changes in the official database. After that, all maps, contracts, and documents from the federal government must use the new names.

Published: 28th January 2025

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