In a move set to make waves in the mapping world, Google has announced it will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Denali Mountain on Google Maps, aligning with recent directives issued by the Trump Administration. Once these changes are updated in the federal mapping database, users will notice a shift in these historic landmark names.
This alteration stems from an executive order by President Donald Trump, which has officially changed the names of certain American landmarks. Following the directive, the U.S. Department of the Interior confirmed the changes, prompting geographic naming bodies to act swiftly in fulfilling the President’s command.
Google, adhering to its policy of updating names based on official government sources, shared this information through a social media post. The company emphasized its commitment to reflect any changes once updates are made in governmental databases.
For U.S. users, the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the “Gulf of America.” This new designation is part of the names initiated by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Denali, acknowledged as North America’s tallest peak, will revert to its former name, Mount McKinley, on a global scale in Google Maps. This reversion is steeped in history, as the mountain was originally named Mount McKinley in 1917 after the 25th President of the United States, only to be renamed Denali in 2015 by the Obama administration. The decision to revert the name has faced opposition from some Alaskan senators.
Interestingly, the name “Gulf of America” will not appear for everyone using Google Maps. Reflecting geopolitical nuances, Google provides different names for geographic features contested by different countries, based on each country’s official designation. This means that while the Gulf will appear as “Gulf of America” for U.S. users, Mexican users will continue to see it as the Gulf of Mexico, with the two names appearing side by side in other regions.
Google is set to implement these changes as soon as the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updates its records. Despite the Department of the Interior’s announcement, as of the latest information, GNIS still lists the Gulf of Mexico and Denali under their original names. As Google aligns with these authoritative updates, users worldwide will witness these significant changes unfold on Google Maps.
