Golfo d'America su Google Maps USA

On Google Maps in the USA the Gulf of Mexico will become “Gulf of America” ​​on Trump’s order

Google recently announced that in the US version of Google Maps The Gulf of Mexico will be renamed in “Gulf of America” and the mountain Denal in Alaska he will return to call himself “Monte McKinley” due to some recent executive orders signed by the new US President Donald Trump. The decision, confirmed by the Alpabeth map platform, is based on Google consolidated practice to follow the official denominations adopted by the Federal Government, which come from Gnis (Geographic Names Information System). This means that, once the names have been updated in the GNIS, they will automatically appear modified on Google Maps for American users.

It is good to specify, therefore, that The change will not be applied uniformly globally: in Mexicofor example, the name “Gulf of Mexico” it will remain unchanged, while in other countries, such as Italy, Google will show both denominations To ensure more complete information. Similar situations of double denomination have already happened in the past, for example with the Persian Gulf or the Sea of ​​Japan. The choice to rename these locations, however, has aroused particularly conflicting reactions, since toponymy is not only a cartographic question but also reflects the history and cultural identity of a territory. At the time of drafting this news Applewhich deals with the development of Apple Maps, has not yet spoken about what it intends to do on his owner map service.

Because the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali will be modified

The executive order that gave rise to these changes was signed by January 20 and is part of a wider program of the Trump Administration aimed at restore historical names associated with the American tradition. The Mount McKinleyfor example, bears the name of the 25th President of the United States, William McKinleya political figure that Trump praised his contribution to the country’s economic growth. The current name of the mountain, Denalhas much older origins, being the term used for centuries by the native populations of Alaska to indicate the highest peak in North America. Up to 2015the mountain was officially known as Monte McKinley, but the Obama administration changed its denomination in Denali as recognition of the indigenous cultural heritage. The return to the old name therefore marks a clear reversal of trend with respect to the policy adopted by the previous administrations.

As for the Gulf of Mexicothe decision to rename it “Gulf of America” He responds to a symbolic and political need. This vast inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, which bathes the coasts of the United States, Mexico and Cuba, has a strategic importance for the American economy, since it houses numerous ports, oil industries and fundamental commercial routes. The introduction of the name “Gulf of America” ​​therefore aims to strengthen the idea of ​​its central role for the United States, even if it inevitably raises (and for obvious reasons) important diplomatic issues. However, according to what is declared by Google, the name “Gulf of Mexico” will remain visible to Mexican usersWhile In the rest of the world both names will be shown simultaneously. This double denomination policy has been adopted in the past for other toponymy disputes and is part of the company’s strategy to reflect the variations of the official names without however deleting the pre -existing ones completely.

When the modification of the names on Google Maps is effective

At this point a question arises spontaneously, that is: when will the names present in the GNIS updated? At the moment we are not known. The Department of Interior of the United States Last week he simply limited himself to declaring the following:

The Us Board on Geographic Names, under the supervision of the interior department, is working quickly to update the official federal nomenclature in the Geographic Names Information System to reflect these changes, with an immediate effect for federal use.