Google Maps has officially updated the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for users in the United States.
The change follows an executive order signed by former US President Donald Trump, prompting the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the US government’s official database for place names, to implement the revision.
Now, users in the US see “Gulf of America” on Google Maps, while those in Mexico continue to see “Gulf of Mexico.” For international users, both names are displayed together.
Google had previously stated that it follows a longstanding policy of updating names in accordance with official government sources. Once the GNIS made the change, Google Maps adjusted accordingly. The GNIS maintains standardized names for over 2 million physical and cultural landmarks across the US and its territories.
In the same announcement, Google also confirmed plans to rename Mount Denali in Alaska back to Mount McKinley, following Trump’s order. The peak, originally named by the Indigenous Koyukon Athabascan people, was renamed Mount McKinley in 1917 in honor of President William McKinley.
The Obama administration reinstated its Indigenous name in 2015, but Trump’s directive instructed the Secretary of the Interior to reverse this decision.
Trump’s executive order required the GNIS to update all relevant records within 30 days to reflect the new geographic names.
