Google agrees to change name of 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America'

Google has decided to use the name Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico, thereby implementing an executive order issued last week by US President Donald Trump.

He indicated on the social network X that he would update the name on the maps for Mexico's northern neighbor because that is the current official name of the Gulf for the United States of America.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said on Jan. 24 that it was implementing the executive order, but that official government maps had not yet been updated from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), part of the U.S. Geological Survey.

In this regard, Google reported that, once GNIS made the change, it would "quickly" do the same in Maps, a source of geographic information for more than 2 billion users.

He also noted that the name "Gulf of Mexico" will continue to be displayed for users in the Mexican Republic, while those in other countries will see both names.

Google has reclassified the United States as a “sensitive country” along with China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Russia, following Trump’s comments about the 'Gulf of America'. This designation is for strict governments and border disputes, CNBC reported.

The new classification for the United States came after Trump said his administration would change names on official maps and federal communications. Such changes include renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' and Mount Denali as Mount McKinley.

According to CNBC, some team members in Google's mapping division were ordered to urgently make the changes and recategorize the United States from "non-sensitive" to "sensitive." The order had the highest priority level, so employees were told to stop what they were doing to work on it.

Google’s order to stop designating the United States as a “non-sensitive” country came Monday, the same day the company announced it would rename the body of water between the Yucatan and Florida peninsulas to “Gulf of America” on Google Maps after the Trump administration updated its “official government sources.”

It's worth noting that the "sensitive" classification is a technical setting that means some labels within a given country are different from those in other countries, a Google spokesperson told CNBC.

With over 2 billion monthly users, Google Maps is the world’s largest navigation app.

After Google announced that it would update its maps to display the name "Gulf of America" instead of " Gulf of Mexico," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that she would send a letter to Google to inform it of the international division of the seas and that it is an organization, but not a country, that authorizes the change of names, the newspaper Reforma reported on January 29.

"I inform you that we are drafting a letter to Google through the Foreign Ministry about how the seas are composed, what is a continental shelf, and what is an economic zone. In fact, the Admiral was explaining to us in the Security Cabinet what is a territorial sea, a contiguous zone, an exclusive economic zone, and an international sea. So, if you remember, President Trump's decree has to do with its continental shelf, which is different from the entire Gulf," Sheinbaum said at a morning press conference.

"We are sending a letter to Google first to tell it: I suppose Google Maps will know about this international division, it will also know which organization is the one that gives the name to the international seas and what would correspond in any case to the continental shelf," added the Mexican President.

According to People magazine, the executive order specified that the Gulf should be named as the new US administration had intended because it had played a "pivotal role in shaping the future of the United States and the global economy."

President Trump's decision to focus on maps during his first day in office, January 20, was criticized nationally and internationally, People reported.

On January 21, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the country would not pay attention to Trump's new guidance on what to call the gulf. "He says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf. For us, it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico," she said.

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