Google says Gulf of Mexico will change to Gulf of America in Maps app: Here’s how

on official maps, a move that could take months to enact.

But Google is readying for the change.

it will apply the name change when it has been updated in official government sources. The company also said it will start using the name Mount McKinley to refer to the mountain in Alaska currently called Denali, another renaming decision from Trump.

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Here’s what we know so far.

How does Google Maps make changes?

“We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps,” the company said on X Monday. “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”

“For geographic features in the U.S., this is when Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated,” the company said. “When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.”

“Also longstanding practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name,” Google said. “Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.”

How long has it been called the Gulf of Mexico?

The Gulf of Mexico has been so named at least since the late 1600s, when it was used to describe the body of water that’s bordered to the north by the United States’ southern coast, from Texas to Florida. It also wraps around Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

, according to the National Parks Service.

Roughly the size of Alaska, it covers more than 615,000 square miles and is almost a thousand miles wide east to west and 660 miles wide north to south.

The Gulf’s shoreline is about 3,540 miles ‒ more than half of it bordering Mexico’s coast, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, although that does not account for the myriad bays and inlets.

Who is in charge of renaming geographical places?

geographic places within the United States.

. “Further, changing an existing name merely to correct or re-establish historical usage should not be a primary reason to change a name.”

Those changes would not necessarily be binding on the states bordering the gulf or for other countries. But at least one state has already embraced it.

, interacting with Arctic air, will bring widespread impactful weather to North Florida beginning Tuesday.”

or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.

Google says Gulf of Mexico will change to Gulf of America in Maps app: Here’s how