Google rolls out update renaming the Gulf of Mexico

Google has now rolled out an update to its Maps application, officially showing the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The update was announced late last month following executive orders from U.S. President Donald Trump.

In a blog post about the update, Google cited the change is because of its longstanding practice of showing region names based on official local settings based on the user’s location. Google updates the names whenever the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updates its registry.

Google practices this elsewhere. One of the most famous examples is the Sea of Japan, which also includes the name East Sea in parentheses due to the dispute between Japan and South Korea.

In the U.S., users will see only the Gulf of America name, while users in Mexico will only see the Gulf of Mexico name that was used previously. For users in Canada and the rest of the world, the name will look like this: Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America). 

Mt. Denali is also set to be renamed on Google Maps. It will officially adopt the name Mt. McKinley, continuing a centuries-long naming dispute surrounding the Alaskan mountain range. The name honours the 25th U.S. president, William McKinley. However, according to Engadget.com, the name is still being shown as Mt. Denali. 

The update can be found on the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Source: Google Blog, Via: Engadget