Google officially changes name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America in Maps for US users

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Tech firm Google officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its Maps app following a change instituted by US President Donald Trump.

Google said that within the US, it follows the US Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System, which has formally adopted Trump’s name change for the body of water spanning much of Mexico’s east coast and the US South.

Users in the US now see “Gulf of America,” while those in Mexico continue to see the original name. Users outside of the two nations will see the original name with Trump’s preferred name in parentheses.

Apple Maps continues to maintain the original name.

Among successive waves of executive orders issued by Trump was one renaming the body of water that has been known as the Gulf of Mexico for centuries.

The order also changed the name of Alaska’s Mount Denali, the name used for the mountain that has the highest peak in North America, back to Mount McKinley.