Google Maps has changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico, to the Gulf of America, after Donald Trump passed an executive order renaming the body of water in the eyes of the US.
The US-based company previously said it would change the name of the oceanic basin once it was updated in the US Geographic Names System (USGS).
Mexico asked Google not to do so, claiming the US had no legal right to change the Gulf’s name under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This says that a country’s territorial sea – which falls under the jurisdiction of a state – only extends up to 12 nautical miles (22km) from its coastline.
The rest of the Gulf is shared under conditions between the US, Mexico, and Cuba.
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The newly named Gulf of America as it appears for US users of Google.
Pic: Google Maps
How the Gulf appears to most of the world on Google, outside of the US and Mexico.
Pic: Google Maps
The Gulf of Mexico as it appears on Google Maps in Mexico.
Pic: Google Maps
For users of Google in the US, if they now scroll over the Gulf, they will find it renamed the Gulf of America.
Users elsewhere, for example in the UK, are met with the Gulf carrying both names: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
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Trump signs ‘Gulf of America Day’ order
Whereas, users in Mexico will still see the water body called the Gulf of Mexico.
It was one of the very first orders signed by the president to rename the Gulf, and then on 9 February, while flying over it, he signed a second order declaring the first-ever Gulf of America Day.
“In the US, the Geographic Names Information System has officially updated ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America’,” Google said in a statement.
“As we announced two weeks ago and consistent with our longstanding practices, we’ve begun rolling out changes to reflect this update,” Google said in a statement.
Celebrating the renaming, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to post an image of the Gulf of America, saying: “GULF OF AMERICA!”
‘It cannot apply’
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum previously told reporters at the end of last month that: “If a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles,” CNN reported.
“It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico,” she added.
Ms Sheinbaum also previously joked that she was considering renaming the continent of North America “Mexican America” in her country.
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She said: “We ask that when you put Mexican America in the search engine, the map appears that we presented.”
A founding document from 1814, which preceded Mexico’s constitution, used that name for the continent.
