The body of water in the United States formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico is now known to American Google Maps users as the Gulf of America.
The change comes after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order renaming the area. Google has previously said it has a “longstanding commitment to implementing name changes when official government sources update names.”
“Users using the U.S. map will see “U.S. Gulf Coast,” while users using the Mexico map will see both names,” the company said in a statement Monday.
Google said last month that it would also change the name of Mount McKinley, the highest peak in the U.S., from “Denali” to “McKinley,” in accordance with Trump’s order. In 2015, former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaskan landmark Denali in honor of the area’s Native people. But as of Tuesday, Google Maps had yet to make that change. Both changes stem from an executive order Trump signed shortly after taking office, which Trump said “respects the greatness of America.”
The order criticized Obama’s decision to rename McKinley as “an affront to the life, achievements and sacrifices of President McKinley.” The order compares McKinley to Trump, saying McKinley “supported tariffs” and was killed in an “attack on our nation’s values and achievements.”
The Federal Aviation Administration also issued a statement on Monday about the geographic name change.
“Please note that the FAA is updating our data and charts to reflect the name change from Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and the name change from Denali to Mount McKinley,” the agency said. The US Coast Guard, which patrols the waters off the US coast, has also begun announcing the new name for the Gulf of America in its bulletins.