You might be hearing about the gulf off the coast of the U.S. and Mexico. Here's what to know about the body of water the size of Alaska.
When Google announced it was complying with US President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, many Mexicans responded with a laugh and a long, exhausted sigh.
Following President Trump’s order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, at least in the United States, Mexicans and Cubans expressed annoyance, defiance, confusion and even amusement.
"As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America," the Interior Department stated in a statement last week. Google responded by noting that the change complies with its longstanding policy of aligning map labeling with updates in official government databases.
Google says it will take its cue from the U.S. government if it has to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali on its Maps service.
Google said it would follow the Trump administration in renaming the Gulf of Mexico once the new name is updated in government sources.
The change will only be visible to U.S. users. Those in Mexico will still see “Gulf of Mexico,” while those in the rest of the world will see both names on the map.
Google said it would rename the body of water to “Gulf of America” after it is updated in the U.S. government system in response to Trump’s executive order.
A supermajority of Americans don’t approve of renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” according to the results of a new poll. Around 70% of respondents to the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey opposed the move, with 25% of respondents supporting it. The rest were unsure.
President Donald Trump has the power to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, but whether people will call it that is an open question.
Google announced that it would be taking steps to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps in the US on its Google Maps platform.