Google will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico in its Google Maps app, after US President Donald Trump ordered it to be renamed the Gulf of the America in official US maps and federal statements, on Tuesday, the 28th of January, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
The change in name will only appear for Google Maps users in the US.
Google also announced that US users will see that North America’s highest mountain, Mount Denali, will once again be called Mount McKinley.
Both changes follow an executive order signed by Trump shortly after taking office last week, saying the changes “honour America’s greatness”.
“We’ve received some questions about the name change on Google Maps,” the company said in a post on social media on Monday. “We have a long-standing practice of changing names when they are updated in official government sources.”
“Google said the changes – for both the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali – will be made “quickly” once the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated.
“Where official names differ from country to country, Maps users see their official local name,” the company said. “Everyone else in the world sees both names. This is also the case here.”
It seems that changing the name is a priority for Trump. In his inaugural address on the 20th of January, shortly after taking office, Trump stressed the importance of renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, calling it part of America’s goal to reclaim its place as the most powerful and respected country in the world.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum mocked Trump’s plan to rename the gulf, jokingly suggesting that North America should be renamed “Mexican America”. Last week, she stressed that “for us and for the world, it will still be the Gulf of Mexico”.
Trump renamed Alaska’s Mount Denali as Mount McKinley in honour of President William McKinley, who, he said, made the US “very rich” through tariffs and his talent.
Denali got the name in 2015 under Obama to recognise Alaska’s indigenous heritage.
Trump’s decision has been opposed by Native American organisations and Alaska’s Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski.
“The highest mountain in our state, known for thousands of years as Denali, should continue to be known by the name given to it by the Alaska Koyukon Athabascans who have ruled this land since the beginning of time,” she said.