Google confirms Gulf of Mexico renamed to appease Trump – but only in the US
- Reference: 1739279708
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/02/11/google_maps_gulf_of_mexico/
- Source link:
The Mountain View megacorp had already [1]signaled a couple of weeks ago that it would fall in line with an executive order from the newly inaugurated president to officially rename the body of water bounded by Mexico and the US to the Gulf of America.
Now the Chocolate Factory has confirmed in an [2]online update that it has made the alteration, however, Google has arranged it so that anyone connecting to Google Maps from the US sees "Gulf of America," while those in the rest of the world see "Gulf of Mexico," with the Trump-decreed moniker in brackets.
[3]
Maps users in Mexico will continue to see the stretch of water labeled as the Gulf of Mexico.
[4]
[5]
"In the US, the [6]Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has officially updated 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America'," Google says in its posting.
"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."
[7]
Don't be evil... to our shareholders. Let's keep everyone happy, including the head of the Western world.
Google says the labels users will see for the Gulf of Mexico are based on their country location. If you are looking at Google Maps in a browser, the names are based on the region you select in your Search settings or your device's location. For mobile users, location is determined by where the phone thinks it is, typically based on what network it is connected to.
[8]Judge says US Treasury 'more vulnerable to hacking' since Trump let the DOGE out
[9]Trump scrubs all mention of DEI, gender, climate change from federal websites
[10]White House asks millions of govt workers if they would be so kind as to fork right off
[11]Google Maps to roll out Trump-approved Denali and Gulf of Mexico rebrands
Through judicious use of a VPN, we were able to confirm that the label you see for that body of water is now different for American users compared to European users.
[12]
[13]
The view outside the US, top, and the view from within
Whether this really matters is up for debate. It has obviously wasted staff time at Google to make the changes show in its app, but the names for places often differ depending on where you are in the world. For example, the English Channel, the stretch of water separating the UK and France, is known as La Manche in France.
Trump's antics have sparked some humorous responses, with someone posting on Facebook that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed to the [14]Gulf of Canada , while the Danes have got in on the act and suggested it be renamed to the [15]Gulf of Denmark in honor of the Vikings who are claimed to be the first Europeans to set foot in America.
Back on dry land, El Reg notes that Florida is known both as the Sunshine State and the Orange State. The latter tag is because of its orange groves and juice industry, and not because of its most famous resident. For now at least. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/28/google_maps_trump_order/
[2] https://blog.google/products/maps/united-states-geographic-name-change-feb-2025/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z6uCNxeb0I4Tip_FruCKOQAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z6uCNxeb0I4Tip_FruCKOQAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z6uCNxeb0I4Tip_FruCKOQAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.usgs.gov/tools/geographic-names-information-system-gnis
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z6uCNxeb0I4Tip_FruCKOQAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/10/doge_infosec_impact_court_order/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/03/trump_admin_scrubs_dei_websites/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/29/us_government_workers_resign_deal/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/28/google_maps_trump_order/
[12] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/02/11/google-gulf-mexico-both-cropped.jpg
[13] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/02/11/google-gulf-america-cropped.jpg
[14] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=9006859009402883&id=100002366194362&set=a.303961186359419
[15] https://www.threads.net/@super1pitch80/post/DFamCu4vbv5/well-played-denmark
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Then he signs the next executive order renaming Mars to Planet Trump.
(and from under his desk Elon Musk whispers, "May I suggest Planet X"?
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Panama Canal --> Panamaga Canal
#winning
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Care to wipe the spittle off your screen and try again, champ?
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Congratulations, you win the special participation prize.
Re: Next Trump executive orders
USoA => Trumpistan
Re: Next Trump executive orders
USoA => Trumpistan
Just call it Trumpton and be done with it, surely?
Icon, because apparently we don't have pictures of Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble OR Grubb
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Lower Trumpington
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Wait until he finds out where the name "California" comes from
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Panama Canal --> Americanal, Shirley?
Re: Next Trump executive orders
Washington DC --> Trumpton
Why waste time and effort?
Just rename name it Gulf of Trumpistan and be done with....
or are they waiting to rename it Gulf of Muskistan?
When will New Mexico ....
.... be renamed New America?!?
And since Trump was born in Queens will New York be renamed Producer of Trumps?!?
Re: When will New Mexico ....
Time for a great renaming of all those US cities that sound foreign?
Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco to be renamed in English like Jesus spoke.
Re: FTFY
Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco to be renamed in English American like Jesus spoke.
Re: FTFY
@Rafael #872397
..."to be renamed in American"...
An executive order to rename the language that Americans speak to American is one that I will support wholeheartedly. US English has diverged sufficiently far from Englisch so that it can be deemed to be a separate language.
Calling it American will lead to better understanding and will aid in reducig misunderstanding (there are sentences that are not immediately parsed as being American, but which has very different meanings from those same sentences expressed in English.
Re: FTFY
Simplified English?
Re: FTFY
No Jesus spoke English because his dad was English but moved to America on the mayflower.
That's also why he was blonde with blue eyes
Re: FTFY
@Yet Another Anonymous coward
"That's also why he was blonde with blue eyes"
It is the same problem with various christian countries. Jesus is depicted as looking like one of them which ever race is worshipping.
Re: Jesus is depicted as looking like ...
I can't claim to be at all religious, but I can't help feeling that this is kind of the point of Jesus ... namely, God as one of us. So adjusting his appearance to the local audience is really just a way of emphasizing it.
Re: FTFY
That's not the problem - the problem is in the demonisation of anyone who doesn't look like us.
As a first century middle eastern man Jesus is very unlikely indeed to have been a blond haired, blue eyed, caucasian... that would certainly have been written about as it would have been extremely noteworthy.
Re: FTFY
Do we argue over the colour of Unicorns?
Do we discuss how hairy Cyclops were?
In that case why are we worried about the hair and eye colour of another fictional character?
.
The Noodly Appendages of the FSM shall protect me from your wrathful down votes!
Ha
The trolling by Trump has me laughing hard at this one while he also undoes the symbolic name change of a mountain by Obama. Either it matters or it doesnt which will have the anti-Trumpers hurting their heads but nobody else will care and call it what they usually do anyway.
Re: Ha
It doesn't matter to me but it does seem quite disrepectful to those American citizens who live in Alaska and didn't ask for the name to be changed.
Re: Ha
@AC
"It doesn't matter to me but it does seem quite disrepectful to those American citizens who live in Alaska and didn't ask for the name to be changed."
Maybe it bothered some people but Obama didnt care when he changed it. I guess its one of those things that will always bother someone, and Trumps renaming of one and reverting the name of another only highlights the inconsistency. As I said I expect this is just trolling to make anti-Trumper heads explode.
Re: Ha
Wow, you really are a complete trump nutter without any redeeming qualities.
Re: Ha
@Casca
"Wow, you really are a complete trump nutter without any redeeming qualities."
As a comment from you I can only interpret that as the highest honour and a complement. Thank you.
Re: Ha
Hold onto it dearly, since I imagine you don't get many of those.
Re: Ha
@MonkeyJuice
"Hold onto it dearly, since I imagine you don't get many of those."
Stupid trolls following me around? I get plenty but sometimes they can be entertaining.
Re: Ha
I suppose when someone is as lonely as you the attention would be vaguely warming.
Re: Ha
@MonkeyJuice
"I suppose when you have no friends the attention would be vaguely warming."
I am forever amazed at the stupid assumptions of some idiots. I can only assume projection or some heavy sniffing of the copium. But I guess as you dont seem to have anything of value to say I should welcome you as another stray troll sniffing around?
Do I guess Trumps trolling has upset you? Is your head hurting trying to reconcile Obama changing the name of a mountain (now been undone) vs the gulf of who cares?
Re: Ha
"I suppose when you have no friends the attention would be vaguely warming."
'I am forever amazed at the stupid assumptions of some idiots.'
That was unfair of the other Monkey'. I'm sure you have very many friends. Online.
Are the Stateside ones not up yet to help celebrate the dawning of the Gulf of America with your good self?
Re: Ha
"The trolling by Trump has me laughing hard"
Agree with President Trump trolling comment. He definitely doesn't like Obama. Not as good as when encouraged people to think that Obama was an illegitimate Black African president. And paid big bucks to question Obama's nationality and birthplace. Betting that really had you rolling in the aisles.
Re: Ha
If you knew anything about anything and weren’t just an ignorant far-right shitposter, you would know that all Alaskans (90%+ Republican!) always have and always will call it Denali, because that’s its name.
Re: Ha
@Ace2
"If you knew anything about anything and weren’t just an ignorant far-right shitposter, you would know that all Alaskans (90%+ Republican!) always have and always will call it Denali, because that’s its name."
Wait a minute! Are you saying it doesnt actually matter because people call it whatever they called it anyway? Wow thats what I said! Well done catching up shitposter.
Re: Ha
> The trolling by Trump has me laughing hard at this one
Er, sure you are. ;-)
Why is it that, whenever someone like Codejunky makes a big deal of wanting us to believe they're guffawing uncontrollably at the libs they owned (or whatever), it always conjures up the more likely reality of them sitting at their desk or phone, typing away in silence with the same stoney-faced, bored expression they always wear and little more than the sad sense of hope that they'll wind someone up and get the attention they want?
Re: Ha
The sad sense of hope that he earns more than 1000 rubbles today.
Re: Ha
Sadly, Codejunky is for real- he's been around here for a long time, long before the likelihood of being a paid Russian troll was even A Thing.
Admittedly he isn't actually American either- as far as I can tell he's based somewhere in the UK, but he's always had an obvious hard-on for the right-wing of American politics and more recently fully bought into that such that you'd take for granted he *was* an American or a troll pretending to be one.
Re: Ha
And at least CodeJunkey generally writes 'thoughtful', 'argued' and I hate to say it - interesting comments at times, even if I disagree with the actual content 99 out of a 100 posts. I'd much rather CodeJunkey was posting here than some of the other accounts which have appeared recently.
Florida's name
"Florida is known both as the Sunshine State and the Orange State"
Didn't the Simpsons or Family Guy describe Florida as America's Dong? Could that explain a lot of things?
Re: Florida's name
Hanging limp, like all the old geezers living there.
(Also living there: one of my coworkers who isn't a bad guy and can code circles around me, and probably doesn't have ED.)
Re: Florida's name
Didn't the Simpsons or Family Guy describe Florida as America's Dong?
Homer Simpson referred to it as America's wang.
Re: Florida's name
Original AC here.
Thanks for the clarification. I was just too lazy to look it up.
Since America is greater than just the USA
is this all a bit pointless?
Re: Since America is greater than just the USA
I think this is Trump's version of 'stray voltage'.
Re: Since America is greater than just the USA
America is a made up European name?
It doesn't even qualify...
...to be childish, it's not good enough for that.
Re: It doesn't even qualify...
Indeed.
It's pathetic.
But not surprising given the level of the orange turnip.
Re: It doesn't even qualify...
But, as childishness is so beautiful, we should perhaps all embrace it.
Does anyone know how we get "USA" officially renamed as "The Northern Swamp" or similar. Only for those outside the USA of course.
Other naming suggestions welcomed!
Re: It doesn't even qualify...
I will get this country to accept its new moniker as Elbonia (pronounced "Elon-Bone-Ya") or die trying.
Next Trump executive orders
Rename:
Greenland --> Trumpland
Panama Canal --> American Canal
Canada --> Northern USA
Mexico --> Southern USA