Google Maps to show ‘Gulf of Mexico’ and ‘Gulf of America’ to global users after Trump move

Move comes after executive order by US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America'. Reuters

Google has said it will restore the name Mount McKinley to North America's highest peak and rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on its Maps app, complying with executive orders by Donald Trump.

“We have a long-standing practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” a spokesman for the search and tech giant said on Monday.

Google said the changes align with its policy of following official US government geographic designations through the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), and will come into effect when the GNIS is updated. Mr Trump signed executive orders changing the names of Denali and the Gulf of Mexico soon after his January 20 swearing-in as president.

The first change reverses former president Barack Obama's 2015 decision to officially recognise Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives for centuries, as the name of North America's highest peak. The second order renames the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”, with the executive order citing its importance to US oil production, fishing and tourism.

The term "Gulf of America" was soon used by the US Coast Guard in a press release on the enforcement of Mr Trump's new crackdown on migrants, as well as Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, when discussing a winter storm. The moves have sparked criticism from indigenous groups in Alaska, who have long advocated to maintain the Denali name, and raised diplomatic concerns with Mexico.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has suggested referring to the US as “Mexican America”, pointing to a map from before one third of her country was seized by the US in 1848. Google said that users outside the US will continue to see both the original and new names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali, as is always the case for disputed locations. It is not yet clear if Apple will make the change in their Apple Maps app.