As of yesterday, Google Maps has changed the designation of the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ for users in the US. Apple Maps appears to be following suit in response.
Maps update aligns with executive order to rename Gulf of Mexico
One of President Trump’s initial executive actions in his second term involved the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’.
This week, that change has been formally recognized by government officials and documented in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
Apple Maps has now received an update for users in the US to reflect this alteration.
While the current map display still shows Gulf of Mexico, accessing location details will now reveal ‘Gulf of America’ as the recognized name.
It is anticipated that the name change will soon be integrated into the map display itself.
At this moment, this revised name applies solely to US users, but Apple has informed Mark Gurman at Bloomberg that the change “will soon be extended to all users worldwide.”
Both Apple and Google adhere to regional geographic naming conventions, such as the NGIS, so the implementation of this change was expected. However, the decision to extend this naming globally is noteworthy since Google plans to keep the Gulf of Mexico label for users in other countries.
We will keep you updated on any further developments regarding this situation.
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