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Google Maps has announced an expected change in the name arising from an enforcement order issued by US President Donald Trump. Google told X that the Gulf’s name would appear as a “US Bay in the United States after the US Department of Interior updates its official maps in the geographical name information system (GNIS). Changing the name corresponds to an executive action, Signed by Trump on January 20, fulfilling one of his promises of the campaign.
The change will only be visible in the US, adhering to Google’s practice of following official government updates. Outside the US users will continue to see both the old and new names, the Gulf of Mexico and the Persian Gulf, with the first one listed first.
The modification has caused disputes. Mexican President Claudia Shainbaum humorously objected to the idea, emphasizing the widespread global recognition of the water system as the Gulf of Mexico. Shainbaum noted, “He will remain known as the Gulf of Mexico in Mexico and worldwide,” according to Deutsche Welle.
This change of name coincides with debate about other geographical names, such as the Denali Mountain in Alaska, known as Mount McKinley. Former President Barack Obama restored the name “Denali” in 2015 to recognize its historical use by local locals. Trump canceled the decisionS
Google underlined its method of displaying names in regions with disputesas the use of double names for the water body between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The unilateral renaming of a historical geographical characteristic such as the Gulf of Mexico is not only semantic. Mail Online noted that “the Gulf of Mexican is one of the largest bay in the world, bordering the US, Mexico and Cuba, having an environmental, economic and geopolitical influence.”
Google’s decision to comply with GNIS, despite the global disagreement, added to the complexity of the debate. On social media, users have criticized Google to adopt the Trump Directive. A user called the expected change “idiotic” and “shameful”.
This article is written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq
