Users of Google Maps in the United States will soon notice a significant change, as the body of water traditionally known as the Gulf of Mexico will be rebranded as the Gulf of America, following President Trump’s controversial executive order. Additionally, Google has announced that Denali, the tallest peak in North America located in southern Alaska, will be referred to as Mount McKinley on its maps for U.S. users, in accordance with the presidential directive.
The implementation of these changes is contingent upon updates from the government to the Geographic Names Information System, an official database that provides descriptions and location data for numerous places across the U.S. As of Tuesday morning, both the Gulf of Mexico and Denali are still listed by their original names in this directory.
“We’ve received several inquiries regarding naming conventions on Google Maps. We have a longstanding policy of adopting name changes once they are reflected in official government sources,” Google stated in a social media update on Monday. The company’s procedure is to apply changes to geographic feature names in the U.S. after such updates are officially documented in the Geographic Names Information System.
“Once that occurs, we will promptly update Google Maps in the U.S. to display Mount McKinley and the Gulf of America,” the tech giant further explained.
Google emphasized that the name of a location may vary based on the user’s location within Maps. For places with different titles in various countries, users will see the official name used in the country from which they are accessing the service, while users in other parts of the world will be able to view both names.
The Interior Department announced on Friday that the Gulf of Mexico would henceforth be known as the Gulf of America, and Denali would again be referred to as Mount McKinley, in accordance with a directive signed by Mr. Trump shortly after his inauguration.
In an official statement, the agency asserted that these changes “reaffirm the Nation’s commitment to preserving the extraordinary heritage of the United States and ensuring that future generations celebrate the legacy of its heroes and historic assets.” The U.S. Board on Geographic Names has begun updating “the official federal nomenclature in the Geographic Names Information System to reflect these changes, effective immediately for federal use,” the department added.
While the federal government will officially use the new names for both the Gulf and the mountain in government documents and official U.S. maps, other countries are not obliged to adopt them. The Associated Press, which is often considered a standard for many news organizations, has stated it will continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its original name while acknowledging the Gulf of America. Similarly, the AP will call Denali Mount McKinley, recognizing Mr. Trump’s authority to change geographical names within the country.
Roughly 400 years ago, the Gulf of Mexico first appeared on a world map. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted this fact during a briefing early this month, where she expressed displeasure with what was then Mr. Trump’s proposal to rename the ocean basin that abuts both Mexico and the U.S. Sheinbaum referenced one of Mexico’s foundational documents from the early 1800s, which predates the nation’s constitution, and humorously proposed renaming North America “América Mexicana,” translating to “Mexican America.”
The name Denali originates from the Koyukon Indigenous tribes native to the region around the mountain. After years of contention, the U.S. designated it as Mount McKinley in the early 1900s in honor of a fallen president. The official name was reverted back to Denali during the administration of former President Barack Obama.
