On Tuesday, Apple made a change to its map application, renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” to comply with an executive order signed by US President Trump on his first day in office.
This change occurred after the US government updated its official map to reflect this name change. According to the Associated Press, the US government’s database, the Geographic Names Information System, officially updated the name of this body of water to “Gulf of America” on Sunday night. Subsequently, Google Maps and Microsoft’s Bing Maps also renamed it from “Gulf of Mexico.”
Apple first implemented this change for its US users on Tuesday, with plans to roll it out globally soon. Apple provides map applications on most of its devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and recently launched a web version to better compete with Google Maps.
Compared to Google, Apple took a much slower approach in renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Google announced as early as late January that it would comply with Trump’s executive order to rename the body of water on Google Maps.
On Monday, Google stated that it had begun officially rolling out this change to align with the company’s “longstanding practices.” The company previously stated on social media X at the end of January: “Our longstanding practice is that when a name is updated in government official data, we update the name.”
The name of this body of water on Google Maps will depend on the user’s location. US users will see “Gulf of America,” while Mexican users will still see “Gulf of Mexico.” Users outside the US and Mexico will see both names, with the label on Google Maps changed to “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”
Microsoft, owner of Bing Maps, stated in a release that it is “updating systems according to established product policies” to reflect the new name.
A Microsoft spokesperson said, “We are committed to providing users with accurate, up-to-date information.”