Apple Maps renames the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and joins Google Maps
In response to one of Donald Trump's most recent remarks, Google was the first company to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps. Now Apple has followed suit with Apple Maps.
In its Maps app, Apple has renamed the Gulf of Mexico. Google issued a statement announcing the change, but Apple officials have updated Apple Maps in a somewhat more muted manner.
During his first days in office, Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring the use of the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). Mapping apps operating in the United States will have to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America but can keep the original version in other areas.
Apple Maps has kept its old name (Gulf of Mexico) outside the US for now, but the Tim Cook-led company said it plans to make the change globally soon.
Apple has previously changed its name to accommodate different government requirements. In 2019, the company behind the iPhone classified Crimea as part of Russia, with the Russian parliament saying it had “fulfilled its obligations and changed the name on its devices in accordance with the requirements of Russian law.”
In order to acknowledge "this thriving economic resource and its vital importance to America's economy and its people," the US president issued an executive order mandating that businesses rename the Gulf. The Trump administration’s change went into effect on January 25.
The Trump administration explained that there is a scientific reason behind the new name. “The continental shelf of the United States is bounded to the northeast, north, and northwest by the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and extends to the maritime boundaries of Mexico and Cuba,” according to the order approved in January.