Google Maps to change name of Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ after Trump order
28 January 2025, 13:55 | Updated: 4 February 2025, 13:24
Google Maps has announced plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’ after Donald Trump’s ordered the name change in one of his first acts on his White house return
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The change will be visible in the US, with both names appearing to Google Maps users outside of the country. In Mexico, it will remain the Gulf of Mexico.
In a statement on X, the tech company said it had a "longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources."
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The US officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and the Alaskan peak Danali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley, Trump’s team said last week.
The mountain;'s name was changed in 2015 during Barack Obama's presidency as a symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives.
Trump has repeatedly called for places to be renamed as part of US nationalism.
He repeatedly referred to Canada as the ’51st State’ and also demanded that Denmark consider ceding Greenland.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month jokingly suggested North America be renamed “Mexican America“ - a historic name used on an early map of the region.
Google has applied the same locale-based labeling conventions to other locations subject to naming disputes.
Outside of Japan and South Korea, the body of water bordering both nations is listed as the “Sea of Japan (East Sea).”
In 2012, Iran threatened to take legal action against Google over its decision to drop the term “Persian Gulf” from Google Maps.The company left the waterway between Iran and the Arabian peninsula nameless.
The body of water is now labeled “Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)” in other countries.
