Feb 11, 2025 21:40:00

Google Maps changes name to 'Gulf of America' but keeps name 'Gulf of Mexico' in Mexico

Following the announcement by the U.S. Department of the Interior that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America, Google, which had indicated a policy of 'applying the name change if there was an official change,' has changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America as planned. However, this only affects people in the United States, and in Mexico, it will continue to be called the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf of America name change in the US — what you'll see in Maps

https://blog.google/products/maps/united-states-geographic-name-change-feb-2025/

Google Maps now shows the 'Gulf of America' | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/609772/google-maps-gulf-of-america-rename-mexico

On January 20, 2025, local time, Donald Trump, who became the 47th President of the United States, signed an executive order to rename several places on the day of his inauguration. One of these orders was to rename the 'Gulf of Mexico' to the 'Gulf of America.'

Google has stated that it will change place names in line with updates to the Government Geographical Name Information System (GNIS).

'Gulf of Mexico' to become 'Gulf of America' on Google Maps - GIGAZINE

And as planned, the name of the Gulf of Mexico

was changed to 'Gulf of America' in the GNIS, and Google Maps also now calls it 'Gulf of America.'

However, if you are using a smartphone, the place name will be displayed based on information obtained from the OS such as the SIM, network, and location information. Therefore, if you are accessing from the United States, the place name will be displayed as 'Gulf of America,' but if you are accessing from Mexico, it will be displayed as 'Gulf of Mexico' as before, and if you are accessing from outside the United States or Mexico, it will be displayed as 'Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).'

In the web version, you can check how the results will look in each country by changing the 'Language and region of search results' in 'Search Settings.'

If you change it to 'United States of America', you can see that it is written as 'Gulf of America'.

When I changed it to 'Mexico,' it became 'Gulf of Mexico.'

If you say 'Japan', it becomes 'Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)'.

Mexican President Sheinbaum wrote a letter of protest to Google about the name change, even suggesting that they change 'America' to 'Mexican America.' However, this has only remained a suggestion and has not been reflected in Google Maps.

Mexican president protests over Google Maps changing 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' and suggests changing 'America' to 'Mexican America' - GIGAZINE