Google officially changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on maps
The body of water formerly known in the United States as the Gulf of Mexico is now listed for U.S.-based users of Google Maps as the Gulf of America.
The change follows an executive order by President Donald Trump renaming the area. Google has it has 鈥渁 longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.鈥�
鈥淧eople using Maps in the U.S. will see 鈥楪ulf of America,鈥� and people in Mexico will see 鈥楪ulf of Mexico.鈥� Everyone else will see both names,鈥� it said in Monday.
Google it would also change the name of Mount McKinley, the nation鈥檚 highest peak, from Denali following Trump鈥檚 order. Former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaska landmark to Denali in 2015 as a nod to the region鈥檚 native population. But that change hasn鈥檛 been made on Google Maps as of Tuesday.
Both changes stem from an executive action that Trump signed shortly after taking office, saying the changes 鈥渉onor American greatness.鈥�
The order criticized Obama鈥檚 decision to rename McKinley as 鈥渁n affront to President McKinley鈥檚 life, his achievements, and his sacrifice.鈥� Drawing parallels to Trump, the order notes that McKinley 鈥渃hampioned tariffs鈥� and was assassinated 鈥渋n an attack on our Nation鈥檚 values and our success.鈥�
The Federal Aviation Administration also issued regarding the geographical name changes.
鈥淧lease 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,鈥� the agency said.
The U.S. Coast Guard, responsible for patrolling the nation鈥檚 maritime coastal waters, has also the new Gulf of America name change in its public notices.