Thu Jan 30 08:21:29 UTC 2025: ## Google Maps to Reflect US Government’s Controversial Name Changes

**Mountain View, CA** – Google Maps will update its platform to reflect the US government’s proposed renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, the company announced Monday. These changes, stemming from executive orders issued by former President Donald Trump, will be implemented only after the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database is officially updated.

The announcement has sparked debate, with some praising Google’s adherence to official government designations and others expressing concerns over the political nature of the changes. The Gulf of Mexico, with its 400-year-old name, is a significant body of water shared by Mexico and the US, while Mount Denali, North America’s highest peak, holds cultural significance for Alaska’s Indigenous Koyukon Athabaskan people, who have called it Denali (“the high one”) for millennia.

Google’s policy on place names with disputed international usage is to display locally relevant names to users within that region, and to show multiple names globally where disagreement exists. This practice is evident in other instances, such as the display of “Persian Gulf” or “Arabian Gulf” depending on user location and the depiction of the Kashmir region differently for Indian and Pakistani users.

The timing of the name changes on Google Maps remains uncertain, pending the USGS update. While Trump’s executive order called for a 30-day implementation, the process may take longer. The decision has prompted some users to express their intention to switch to alternative mapping services like Apple Maps, highlighting the influence that major map providers exert on global perceptions of geographical naming conventions. Experts note that mapmaking is inherently subjective, reflecting the cultural and political biases of its creators, and that Google’s decisions are likely driven by a desire to minimize controversy and maintain market share.

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