What you need to know
- Google Maps is rolling out its name change for the Gulf of Mexico, and users will see one of three different names based on their region.
- Users in the U.S. will see the Gulf of America name, users in Mexico will see the Gulf of Mexico name, and users in other regions will see both names.
- The region is set by your device’s operating system and SIM provider, so it’s hard to change manually.
The Gulf of Mexico is now the Gulf of America on Google Maps, at least in the U.S. The body of water bordering the southeastern North American coast will now appear differently on Google Maps depending on a user’s location, following a change that is rolling out now.
As Google announced weeks ago, the company said it has “a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” and thus planned to rename the Gulf of Mexico when the U.S. officially completed its name change. That process has been completed, as the Gulf of America is the new name for this body of water in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.
The move is only indirectly related to President Donald Trump’s executive order issuing the name change. This is why the renaming is taking effect on Google Maps now, not when the executive order was first issued. Instead, the reason for the name change in the U.S. is because the U.S. Department of the Interior officially updated the Gulf of Mexico’s name in the GNIS by Order 3423 issued by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Of course, the controversial renaming of the Gulf of Mexico was directed by President Trump. The resulting effect on Google Maps is as follows:
- United States users will see the name “Gulf of America”
- Mexico users will see the name “Gulf of Mexico”
- Users in all other regions will see both names
“The names you see in the Maps app are based on your country location, which is determined by information from your phone’s operating system (e.g., iOS and Android), including your SIM, network, and locale,” Google explains. “If you’re using Google Maps on the web, the names are based on the region you select in your Search settings or your device’s location, if you haven’t selected one.”
Based on these conditions, it is virtually impossible to change the Google Maps name of the Gulf of Mexico/Gulf of America to your preference manually.
Apple Maps plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, too. Other popular navigation providers, like Bing Maps and MapQuest, haven’t made a public decision yet.
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