What you need to know
- Google confirmed via an X post that it will change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps.
- This comes after President Trump signed an executive order stating the name change— a part of his campaign promise.
- It remains unclear when exactly Maps will show the said changes, however, Google states that it'll happen once the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated.
On Tuesday, Google announced that it would be taking steps to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps in the U.S. on its Google Maps platform.
For people in Mexico, the name will stay the same; however, for the US, it will be renamed as above.
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government,” said Google in a post on X. This change comes after Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, keeping a part of his campaign promise.
We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.January 27, 2025
As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America, and North America's highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley," Trump's Interior Department said in a statement last week (via Reuters).
In the same X post, the tech giant said that once the Geographic Names Information System(GNIS) is updated, Google Maps will also reflect the name changes. GNIS maintains working relationships with the federal authorities and the government to "standardize geographic names for Federal use."
Google added that when there are varied names for the same place, the people residing in the local area will see the name designated to that country, while the rest of the world will see both options.
The company also said Maps will rename Denali back to Mount McKinley, which was changed during Barak Obama's presidency, paying tribute to the Alaskan natives.
It remains unknown when these changes will start showing up on Google Maps, as the company didn't give us the exact date that this will go into effect. Android Central has reached out to Google in this regard and will update the article when we have more information.
