Google Maps now has multiple ways of referring to the Gulf of Mexico
Within moments of being inaugurated as US President earlier this year, Donald Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Sure enough, an executive order followed, changing the name to the Gulf of America -- but there has been the question about how most of the world will refer to it moving forward.
On a day-to-day basis, there will be some who use the new name, some who stick with the previous one -- but what about map services? Google previously stated that when the Geographic Names Information System was updated, Google Maps would reflect the new nomenclature. Now the name change has been implemented, but what you see will depend on where you are in the world.
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What is interesting is that Google has opted to use three different methods of referring to the body of water nestled between Mexico, North America and Cuba. For people living in Mexico, things stay the same: it is simply called the Gulf of Mexico. For those in the US, however, the label used is Gulf of America.
Venture to other parts of the world, and things get more interesting. Google Maps uses the label “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” for anywhere that isn’t Mexico or the US -- or translated versions of this for different countries. Google has not explained why it has chosen to keep the new name in parentheses rather that the old one, but has shared an image of what users of Google Maps will see around the world.
The company says: “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. 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”.
Image credit: Taner Muhlis Karagüzel / Dreamstime.com