Among the storm of executive orders issued by Donald Trump on his first day back in the Oval Office was one titled Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness. He unilaterally renamed “the area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico” “Gulf of America.”
This decision was justified by the fact that this maritime space has long been an “integral asset” for the United States, with its “abundant geology” producing approximately 14% of American crude oil production, its “dynamic American fisheries” and being “a privileged destination”. of American tourism.
The Gulf was also called “an indelible part of America” that would continue to play “a central role in shaping the future of America and the global economy.”
But while it is undoubtedly important to the United States, this part of the Atlantic Ocean also clashes with other countries. So can the president really rename him? Of course! At least as far as the United States is concerned.
Naming rights
The relevant federal agency is the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), established in 1890 with the mission of maintaining uniform use of geographic names.
Specifically, Trump’s executive order directs the Secretary of the Interior to take “all appropriate actions” to change the name to America’s Gulf, ensure that all federal references reflect the name change, and update the Geographic Names Information System.
The BGN has generally been reluctant to change generally accepted geographic names. However, the executive order makes it clear that the composition of the board of directors may change in order to ensure that the proposed name change goes through.
But whatever the United States decides to call the Gulf, that doesn’t mean other countries will pay attention to it. Indeed, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo quickly suggested that the United States itself could be renamed Mexican America.
It referenced a 17th-century map showing that name for much of the area that is now the United States, and asserted that Mexico and the rest of the world would continue to use the name Gulf of Mexico.
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Contested Histories
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) publishes a volume entitled Boundaries of Oceans and Seas, covering the names of seas and oceans around the world, including the “Gulf of Mexico”.
But the study makes clear that these limits “have no political significance” and are “intended solely for the convenience” of hydrographic services which prepare information for mariners.
It has not been published since 1953 – precisely because of a dispute over the geographical name of the body of water between Japan and Korea. Japan prefers to call it the Sea of Japan (as most know), but South Korea has long campaigned for it to be named the East Sea or East Sea/Sea of Japan.
A revised edition of the IHO volume was submitted to Member States in 2002, but addressed the issue by omitting coverage of the East Sea/Sea of Japan. This is only a working document.
South Korea takes this issue so seriously that an ambassadorship was created to deal with it, and an East Sea Corporation was established 30 years ago.
The fact that this impasse has prevented a new edition of an IHO publication for over 70 years demonstrates not only the difficulty of changing generally well-recognized geographical names, but also the importance that countries attach to these issues.
Dangerous terrain
Place names – called toponyms – are sensitive because they show that any country that changes a name has the right to do so, implying sovereignty and ownership. Names therefore have historical and emotional significance and are easily politicized.
This is especially true when past conflicts with unresolved legacies and current geopolitical rivalries are at stake. For example, the Sea of Japan–East Sea conflict dates back to Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1905 and the 40 years of colonial rule that followed.
Likewise, the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands/Las Malvinas, over which Britain and Argentina went to war in 1982, remains a perpetual source of diplomatic disputes.
But the South China Sea case is hard to beat. All or part of this body of water is simultaneously called the South Sea (Nan Hai) by China, the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines, the North Natuna Sea by Indonesia, and (another) East Sea (Biển Đông) by Vietnam. .
To further complicate matters in this same area, what in English is generally known as the Spratly Islands is known in Chinese as Nánshā Qúndǎo, Kepulauan Spratly in Malay, and in Vietnamese as Trường Sa.
All the islands, rocks and cays in this hotly contested area also have names, individually or collectively, in several languages. Even the names of fully and permanently submerged entities have proven controversial. The early British Admiralty cartographers were arguably the most accurate in simply naming the area “Dangerous Terrain”.
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Political chasms
Globally, there have been efforts to replace colonial references with original indigenous names, something very familiar to Australians and New Zealanders.
In the same executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, Trump also changed the name of North America’s highest peak (in Alaska), from Denali, to Mount McKinley (named for the 25th president, William McKinley, in 1917).
It simultaneously attacked the legacy of former President Barack Obama, who renamed the peak Denali in 2015, and spoke to Trump’s war on politics perceived as “woke.”
That said, the change was tempered by the fact that the national park area surrounding the mountain will retain the name Denali National Park and Preserve.
Ultimately, Trump may rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, but only from a strictly American perspective. This is unlikely to matter much to the rest of the world, except for those who wish to curry favor with the new administration.
Most of the world will likely continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico. And the Gulf of America could well be history in four years.
