The body of water formerly known in the United States as the Gulf of Mexico is now listed for US-based users of Google Maps as the Gulf of America.
The area is being renamed in compliance with an executive order issued by US President Donald Trump. Google has a history of updating names in accordance with official government sources.
According to Google, users in the US will now see ‘Gulf of America,’ while users in Mexico will continue to see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’ Other users will see both names displayed on the map.
In addition to this change, Google also intends to rename Mount McKinley, the highest peak in the US, back to Denali per Trump’s directive. Former President Barack Obama had previously renamed the Alaskan mountain to Denali in 2015 as a sign of respect to the indigenous population. However, this alteration has not yet been implemented on Google Maps.
Both changes stem from an executive action that Trump signed shortly after taking office, saying the changes “honor American greatness.”
The order criticized Obama’s decision to rename McKinley as “an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice.” Drawing parallels to Trump, the order notes that McKinley “championed tariffs” and was assassinated “in an attack on our Nation’s values and our success.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration also issued a notice Monday regarding the geographical name changes.
“Please be advised that the FAA is in the process of updating our data and charts to show a name change from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and a name change from Denali to Mount McKinley,” the agency said.
The US Coast Guard, responsible for patrolling the nation’s maritime coastal waters, has also begun incorporating the new Gulf of America name change in its public notices.
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