Google Maps Renames Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America Following Executive Order
Google Maps has updated its platform to reflect the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for users in the United States, following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025. This change aligns with the U.S. Geographic Names Information System's recent update, as directed by the executive order.
For users in Mexico, the body of water will retain the name Gulf of Mexico, while international users will see both names displayed, with the new designation in parentheses. This approach is consistent with Google's practice of adapting place names based on regional preferences and official government sources.
President Trump proclaimed February 9 as "Gulf of America Day," encouraging Americans to commemorate the day with appropriate programs and activities. He emphasized that the renaming is part of an effort to "restore names that honor American greatness." The executive order also includes renaming Alaska's Denali back to Mount McKinley, though this change has not yet been reflected on Google Maps.
The renaming has sparked political and international debate, particularly with Mexico, which continues to recognize the original name. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has urged Google to reconsider the change, emphasizing that such alterations legally apply only up to 12 nautical miles from the U.S. coast.
Google stated that it follows official government sources for name changes and applies regional variations according to longstanding policies. The company determines which name to display based on user location data from their mobile OS, SIM, network, or desktop search settings.
As of now, other mapping services like Apple Maps and MapQuest have not adopted this change. Apple Maps redirects searches for "Gulf of America" to the Gulf of Mexico, and MapQuest has not made any updates reflecting the new name. Google-owned Waze shows both names for the Gulf of Mexico but finds no results for searches of "Gulf of America."
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No – Google does what the US government wants them to do – because Google was created by the CIA to do the sort of media control it has over the mainstream media since forever, but couldn’t easily do with the Internet.
Look it up:
How the CIA made Google
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-google-e836451a959e
Well, time to stop using Google maps.
Best comment here for years.
Given I’m French I would have appreciated the rename to be “Gulf of New Orleans”.
By the way, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “America” as “either continent (North America or South America) of the western hemisphere. Yet, “America” is often understood as “The United States of America” (“I want to live in America” in the ‘West Side Story’ movie-film).
What id odd nevertheless IMO is that, in 2025, an administration is concerned in renaming a piece of water …
Given I’m Chinese I would have appreciated the rename to be “Gulf of Beijing”.
To be logical let’s regret that there is no place (I’m aware of) on the American coast facing the Gulf of Mexico named after a Chinese town when there is one named after a French city : New Orleans as a new ‘Orleans’… a nice place not far from where I live, here in France : Vive la France :)
Whoever is first in the morning to pull the orange cheeto’s pants down and stand him on his head will quote whatever mess spews forth.