Google Maps, the Gulf of Mexico becomes Gulf of America

The terminological variation is not however uniform on a global level. For users in Mexico, the “Gulf of Mexico” denomination remains unchanged, while in the rest of the world, the original wording is accompanied, in brackets, by the new designation “Gulf of America”. The location of the user, and consequently the display of one of the two versions, is determined by Google through data from the mobile operating system, the SIM and the network. In the case of desktop users, the display is influenced by the search settings or the position of the device, if provided.

Unlike Google Maps, Apple Maps has not yet implemented any modification, while redirecting the research of “Gulf of America” ​​towards “Gulf of Mexico”. Other mapping platforms, such as Mapquest, have also not adopted changes. Waze, also owned by Google, shows both denominations in the event of a search for “Gulf of Mexico”, while it does not provide results for the search for “Gulf of America”. This differentity between the different mapping platforms highlights how the updating of geographical names can follow different times and criteria.