Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America? Google Maps and controversial geography | Donald Trump News

The executive regulations of the US President, Donald Trump, have crazy into the field of digital cartography. Google announced on Monday that the online mapping platform Google Maps will change the name of Mexico’s golf for users in the USA to the Gulf of America.

In addition, Google Maps will change the name of the highest summit in North America, Mount Denali, to Mount McKinley. These changes are reflected on the platform as soon as they were officially made by the US government.

Here you can find out how Google dealt with controversial names with controversial names in the past and how the new change will work:

What exactly will change on Google Maps?

• The name of the Golf of Mexico will switch to Golf of America for users who are in the USA.
• It will remain for users in Mexico Golf from Mexico.
• Google Maps will instruct both Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of America to users who are neither in the USA nor in Mexico.
• The name of Mount Denali is changed for Google Maps users around the world in Mount McKinley.

How did we get here?

On the day of his inauguration on January 20, Trump signed 26 Executive Orders. In one of these commands, the Gulf of Mexico is killed in the Gulf of America and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley.

The Gulf of Mexico is a water body, bound to Cuba, Eastern states in Mexico: Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo; and states on the United States golf coast: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

The snow -covered Mount Denali in Alaska is the highest mountain in North America at an altitude of 6.190 meters (20,308 feet).

The Gulf of Mexico has had its name for about 400 years. In his book The Principall Navigation, Voiagen and discoveries of the English nation, which was published in 1589, the English geographer Richard Hakluyt calls the water body “Gulf of Mexico”. In Mexico, the Golf is also called El Golfo de Mexico under its Spanish name.

Trump can rename the Gulf of Mexico for its domestic audience, but the rest of the world does not have to go with this name change, since there are no international laws that decide what a common maritime space or a controversial area is generally mentioned.

Renaming Mount Denali is easier because it is part of the US territory. Trump wants to rename Mountain Mount McKinley after the former Republican William McKinley, who was president from 1897 to 1901, was president and never visited Alaska.

“The highest mountain in our nation, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, published on X in response.

The name of the mountain was officially changed in Mount McKinley in 1917. In 2015, the name was changed by former democratic president Barack Obama to Denali.

Denali means “the big” or “the Hohe” in the language of Kuyokan Athabascan. Alaska’s indigenous people and other residents of the state prefer the name Denali.

When will Google Maps make the change?

The exact date is not yet known. Google will update the name in its card application if the US government officially makes the change.

“We have a long -term practice to use name changes if they have been updated in the official government,” Google wrote on Monday to X.

In the event of the USA, the change in the application will reflect when the names in the geographical name information system (GIS) are updated, the official database, which is managed by the US Geological Survey (USGS), contains the names of more than one million geography Websites in the USA.

It is unclear when the names are updated to the GIS, but when Trump signed the executive regulation on January 20, he wanted the name change within 30 days, which would be February 19.

Why did Google Maps make the change?

“When official names vary between the countries, the card users see their official local names. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That also applies here, ”said Google on Monday in a post on X.

In a Google Public Policy Blog contribution from 2008 it is further explained: “For every difficult case, we collect a cross-functional group of Googlers, including software engineers, product managers, GIS specialists, guideline analysts and geopolitical researchers. This process benefits from the local knowledge and experiences of Googler around the world. “

However, there are also clear economic rationales that drive decisions from companies such as Google, say experts.

Companies like Google make cards “to” support their business missions for search and advertising. Geography in Central Washington University said Al Jazera.

Google’s approach, he said, be “trying to annoy as few customers as possible”, either by adding adjustments on the basis of the region or by introducing uncertainties by either removing names of places or adding several names become.

“Decisions on the mapping of companies in political disputes can depend on the economic and political power of the parties involved. I see Google’s “Gulf of America” ​​change as a sign that you want to keep an uninterrupted business than as a sign that you agree to Trump’s change, ”added Quinn.

Has that happened before?

Yes, Google Maps indicates different names for certain places, depending on who looks.

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Both India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir and claim the entire area of ​​the mountain region. In 2019, India revoked the Semi-Autonomous Status of Kashmir, which was administered by India, and split it into two regions Jammu and Kashmir in the west and Ladakh in the east.

When they are in India, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh seem to be part of India on Google Maps with a solid black line in Kashmir. If you are in another country, including Pakistan, Sketch Google Maps Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh with a black dashed line.

Persian Golf or Arab Golf

What Iran calls the Persian Golf is called Arabic nations as Arabic Golf. The water body is bound to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (VAE).

When you are in Iran, Google Maps marks the water body as the Persian Golf. If you are in an Arab country that has a coast on the Gulf like Qatar, Google Maps call it the Arabic Golf. If you are in another country that has no coast on the Golf, Google Maps marks the water body “Persian Golf (Arabian Golf)”.

Sea of ​​Japan or Baltic Sea

The sea, which is bound to Japan and the Korean Peninsula, is called Japan of Japan, while both North and South Korea call it the Baltic Sea.

When you are in Japan, Google Maps marks the sea of ​​Japan. It appears as an Baltic Sea in South Korea. Outside of Japan and South Korea, it appears as the “Sea of ​​Japan (Baltic Sea)”.

How did people react to Google Maps’ recent announcement?

The Google Maps announcement on the upcoming changes in connection with the Gulf of Mexico led to a mixed bag of answers online. Many have welcomed the move to X, some published by relocating to other mapping platforms such as Apple Maps.

If this is the case, I will delete Google and use Duckduckgo and Apple Maps.

– Uncretummy no blue checkmark, but blue (@uncletummytx) January 29, 2025

In November 2019, however, the Russian Parliament lower house announced that Apple Maps would show the Crimea as part of Russia from Russia. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea in an internationally convicted step.

Outside of Russia, the Crimea is clearly identified on apple cards as a Ukrainian territory.

There is currently a black dashed border between Ukraine and Crimea on Google Maps as well as between Crimea and Russia, regardless of whether the map from Ukraine, Russia or another country is being viewed.

Al Jazera turned to Apple to ask whether Apple Maps would change the names of the Gulf of Mexico or Mount Denali, but did not receive an answer.

Are maps lens?

Not really.

“Many people want to treat cards such as objective documents, but maps are a product of culture and the values ​​of the people they produce,” said Quinn, the geography professor.

He explained that the names of places were always “fluid, controversial and political”.

“Ultimately, people who use the names will be those who decide what they are,” he said, adding that names of geographical websites who use people in conversations may not always reflect in institutionally produced cards.

“Nevertheless, a widespread map like Google Maps has great potential to influence the way people perceive the world.”