Apple renames Gulf of Mexico as ‘Gulf of America’ on US app
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Users of Google’s and Apple’s maps outside the US will see both the “Gulf of America” and “Gulf of Mexico”.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Apple has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” for US users of its mapping application to comply with an executive order by President Donald Trump.
People using the Apple Maps application from the US will find the body of water is now called the “Gulf of America”.
Those accessing the service from abroad, however, will still find it called the “Gulf of Mexico”.
Apple’s decision comes after Google on Feb 10 changed the name
Google wrote in a blog post that users outside the US will continue to see both names.
“People using Maps in the US will see ‘Gulf of America’, and people in Mexico will see ‘Gulf of Mexico’. Everyone else will see both names,” Google wrote.
Mr Trump signed executive orders changing the names of Denali, a mountain in Alaska, and the Gulf of Mexico soon after his Jan 20 swearing in as president.
The term “Gulf of America” was soon used by the US Coast Guard in a press statement on enforcing Mr Trump’s new crackdown on migrants, and Florida’s Republican governor, Mr Ron DeSantis, when discussing a winter storm.
The move raised diplomatic concerns in Mexico, and President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would write to Google and object to the name change
The Associated Press said on Feb 11 that its White House reporter was barred from an event
Mr Trump’s order to change Denali to Mount McKinley reverses then President Barack Obama’s 2015 decision to officially recognise Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives for centuries for North America’s highest peak. AFP
