- Google Maps has updated the name of the Gulf of Mexico at the American Gulf for users in the United States.
- President Trump signed a decree on his first day of power by ordering changes to “honor American greatness”.
- Users will see their local official name when it varies between countries; The rest of the world sees the two names.
Google Maps has updated the name of the Gulf of Mexico for American users following a decree by President Donald Trump in January.
Monday evening, when users of the United States are looking for the “Gulf of Mexico” in Google Maps, they are presented with a result for “Gulf of America”.
For people outside the United States, the result appears to be “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
The president signed a decree during his first day in power to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and to change the name of the highest mountain top of North America from Denali to Mount McKinley. At the time of the press, the name “Denali” has not yet been changed on Google Maps.
The change in Google Maps was expected. Google said earlier that he had “a long -standing practice to apply name changes when they have been updated in official government sources”.
The company said it would update cards in the United States after the geographic name information system (GNI) has made the changes. The GNIS, a database of more than 2 million physical and cultural characteristics in the United States and its territories, standardizes geographic names for federal use.
Trump’s decree gave the interior secretary 30 days to implement name changes and update the GNS to reflect them.
Former President Barack Obama changed the name of the Mont McKinley mountain summit in Denali in 2015 in honor of the names of local native groups for the Alaska mountain.
Under the order of Trump, the surrounding national park area will keep the name of the Denali national park and reserve, and the interior secretary “will work with the indigenous entities of Alaska and the state organizations and Local to adopt names so that the monuments honor the history and culture of the people of Alaska.
The change of name at the federal level was a complex company for government agencies and offices.
Historically, the board of directors on geographic names and the US Geological Survey would act immediately to update the GNIs. The State Ministry would update the server of geographic names, which defines the names of geographic functionalities outside the United States. However, it is at each agency and office to update their own websites accordingly.
Outside the United States, other countries may not recognize name changes.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said in January that “for us and the whole world, it’s still the Gulf of Mexico”.
Google previously said that when official names vary between countries, card users will see the official name used in their country, while the rest of the world will see the two names. The company said it was also in accordance with long -standing policy.
Google did not respond to a request for comments from Business Insider.
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