“MEXICO’S PRESIDENT OBJECTS TO RENAMING GULF OF MEXICO”
During a recent news conference, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum disclosed that she had reached out to Google, urging the company not to comply with President Donald Trump’s directive to alter the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps app. Sheinbaum emphasized that such a change cannot be implemented unilaterally by the United States as the Gulf is shared by Cuba and Mexico, as per the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. She clarified that under this convention, a country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles from the coastline, and any name changes beyond that limit would not be valid.
Sheinbaum even humorously suggested that if renaming was to be considered, the United States itself could be called “Mexican America,” citing a historical map from 1607. In her letter to Google, Sheinbaum requested the search engine to prominently feature the map of Mexican America when the term is searched.
Google has not responded immediately to requests for comments on this matter. This development comes in the wake of Trump’s executive order mandating the change of the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America on official maps. Google indicated that they would adopt this name change once it is updated in official government sources, much like the decision to refer to Mount McKinley as Denali in Alaska.
The company explained that they follow a standard practice of incorporating name changes once they are updated in official government sources, such as the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for U.S. geographic features. They assured that when such changes occur, Google Maps will be promptly updated to display Mount McKinley and the Gulf of America. Furthermore, Google highlighted that in cases where official names differ between countries, local users will see the official local name, while the rest of the world will view both names.
In conclusion, Mexico’s stance against renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America has sparked a debate around nomenclature and geographical naming practices on digital platforms like Google Maps.