Google plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and that of the Alaskan mountain Denali to Mount McKinley in Google Maps, the company said Tuesday in a series of tweets. The news follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the body of water and mountain on his first day in office.
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” Google said in a tweet.
In the U.S., this refers to updates made in the Geographic Names Information System.
“Also longstanding practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name,” another Google tweet said. “Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.”
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A representative for Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reaction from users
Google Maps’ decision sparked backlash among some users who threatened to delete the app once the update is official.
Critics argue the company is reinforcing the controversial renaming by reflecting the change on the app.
One X user said, “Time to move to Apple Maps for good.”
A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Apple Maps will follow suit.
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History of the names
In 2015, President Barack Obama changed the name of Mount McKinley to Denali, the name Alaska’s native population had used for it for centuries. The US government had called it Mount McKinley in honor of President William McKinley, the nation’s 25th president, since 1917.
A press release from the US Department of the Interior calls the changed names “historic names honoring American greatness.”
The statement says the gulf name change recognizes its “enduring contributions to the economic strength and vitality of the United States and “affirms its central importance to the Nation.”
It calls the Denali name change under Obama “an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice.”
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