Google Maps has changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico, to the Gulf of America, after Donald Trump passed an executive order renaming the body of water in the eyes of the US
The US-based company previously said it would change the name of the oceanic basin once it was updated in the US Geographic Names System (USGS).
Mexico asked Google not to do so, claiming the US had no legal right to change the Gulf’s name under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This says that a country’s territorial sea – which falls under the jurisdiction of a state – only extends up to 12 nautical miles (22km) from its coastline.
The rest of the Gulf is shared under conditions between the US, Mexico, and Cuba.
For users of Google in the US, if they now scroll over the Gulf, they will find it renamed the Gulf of America.
Users elsewhere, for example in the UK, are met with the Gulf carrying both names: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
Whereas, users in Mexico will still see the water body called the Gulf of Mexico.
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