Illustration: The Verge
Google said today that it plans to update Google Maps to reflect President Trump’s January 20th executive order to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali to the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley, respectively.
The company noted on X the updated nomenclature will appear once the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated.
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” the company posted on X. It added that when “name changes vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.”
Denali was named Mount McKinley until 2015.
The US Department of the Interior said last week it plans to follow the executive order to implement the name changes.
“The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, under the purview of the Department of the Interior, is working expeditiously to update the official federal nomenclature in the Geographic Names Information System to reflect these changes, effective immediately for federal use,” the Department of the Interior said on Friday.
An Apple spokesperson wasn’t immediately available to comment on its plans for Apple Maps.
