Google Maps now officially shows the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America if you open the app in the US. In a blog post, Google said it rolled out the named change because the government has already updated the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which decides the "federal and national standard for geographic nomenclature." One of the executive orders President Donald Trump signed in January when he took office renames the body of water, but Google previously explained that it's the company's longstanding policy to wait for official government resources to be updated before applying any name change.
The Gulf of America label will only be visible if you use the Maps app in the US, or if you open Maps on the web and your device's location is set to the region. If you're in Mexico, the label still shows Gulf of Mexico. And if you're elsewhere, you'll see it marked as both, specifically: Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America). It's also longstanding policy for the company to show official local names when they vary between countries. Trump's executive order also renames Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, to Mount McKinley. So far, the location is still being shown as Denali on Maps.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-adopts-gulf-of-america-for-us-maps-users-140026397.html?src=rss
