Google said Monday it will soon display the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” whenever the federal government updates its official maps, bowing to President Donald Trump’s declaration the region be renamed.
“We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps,” the tech giant wrote on social media. “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”
Trump signed an executive order the day of his inauguration, saying the gulf was “ours” and that it should be renamed alongside the tallest peak in North America. The order moved to rename Denali in Alaska — which has been known as such since 2015 — back to Mount McKinley.
“The Gulf of America ― what a beautiful name,” the president said at a news conference earlier this month. “And it’s appropriate. We do most of the work there. It’s ours.”
Google said it changes data in Google Maps when the government updates the Geographic Names Information System, part of the U.S. Geological Survey. When that happens, the company said, the change will be made “quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.”
Users in Mexico, however, will not see the shift.
“Also longstanding practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name,” Google added. “Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.”