One the first of assuming his duty in the White House , President Donald Trump signed a long list of executive gild . Among them was an rescript cthat sought to exchange the names of a few important landmark .
title “ reestablish Names That Honor American Greatness , ” theexecutive ordermentioned the renaming of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America . Google is complying with the change and say the updated name will soon reflect onGoogle Maps .
The company says it follow a policy of changing the name of location to tally their description in official government datasets , referencing the Geographic Names Information Systems ( GNIS ) directory .
When that happen , we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America .
& mdash ; News from Google ( @NewsFromGoogle)January 27 , 2025
“ When that happens , we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America , ” the caller wrote in an official mail of X. The name change has not gone live for users in the US , as of press prison term .
Notably , the update name will only appear as Gulf of America to users on U.S. soil , or in region under the state ’s independent control . For the residuum of the world , they will continue to see it labeled Gulf of Mexico in their map aspect .
Back in 2009 , Google published a policy explainer about naming scenario where border dispute about overlap territories and contravene names uprise . Itsaysthe ship’s company takes into business relationship “ guidance from definitive reference , local laws and local market expectations . ”
As part of his executive rescript , Trump order the Secretary of Interior to update the GNIS , so that Mount Denali is scrubbed and Mount McKinley takes its place , a bid to reward President McKinley ’s legacy .
Likewise , all credit of Gulf of Mexico is to be expunged , and replaced with Gulf of America . “ The assignment of our national treasures , including breathtaking natural wonder and historic whole works of fine art , should honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our Nation ’s rich yesteryear , ” says the executive edict .
Such a sack is not unheard of . On Google Maps , the Japanese exploiter see “ Sea of Japan ” for the same water organic structure that come along as “ East Sea ” for folks in South Korea .
Standardization of geographic names is often a hot tussle and the debates often echo in the Hall of the UN , no less .
Back in 2015 , Google scrubbed the name of “ Zhongsha Islands ” from a contested reef country and updated it to Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea . The marine stretch is a grounds of a geopolitical breach between China and the Philippines .
Filipinos petition Google to scrub the Formosan name , reason that it was consanguineal to an illegal territorial snatch by the Asian powerhouse .
“ We understand that geographic names can raise deep emotions which is why we make quickly once this was bring to our aid , ” a Google interpreter was quote as saying by theBBC .
