Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote a letter asking Google to reject the U.S. decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on its mapping service.
The president of Mexico read the letter during her daily news briefing discussing Google’s decision to follow “the mandate of a country” to change the name of “an international sea” and jokingly suggested Mexico might ask Google to add “Mexican America.”
The executive order signed by President Donald Trump mandates the change throughout U.S. federal documents and maps. The gulf that borders the United States, Mexico, and Cuba has been known as the Gulf of Mexico for centuries.
Trump’s directive gave agencies 30 days to make the change.
Google confirmed that the name change will only apply to U.S. users, but outside the U.S., the area will still be labeled as the Gulf of Mexico.
The mapping service posted on X, “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”
Sheinbaum said that the U.S. cannot legally change the name beyond its territorial waters, which, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an international treaty that regulates the use of the world’s oceans and seas, is up to 12 nautical miles from the coastline.
The Gulf is one of the world’s most productive oil and gas basins, contributing to approximately 14% of U.S. crude oil production. It houses vast natural gas reserves while also playing a crucial role in commercial fishing, ranked as the nation’s second largest fishing region.
According to the executive order, the Gulf is a key hub for ecotourism and the multi-billion dollar U.S. maritime industry.
The order also reinstated Mount Mckinley, Alaska’s highest peak, which was previously renamed Denali by former President Barrack Obama in 2015.
