Mexican President writes to Google over Gulf of Mexico name change

MEXICO CITY: Following Google’s decision to comply with US President Donald Trump’s order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has sent a letter to the tech giant arguing the US cannot change the name, CNN reported.

Showing the letter to reporters Sheinbaum argued that according to the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea, US sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles.

“In the case of Mexico, where are we completely sovereign? In the area is established as 12 nautical miles from the coastline, and this applies to all countries worldwide. If a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles. It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico. This is what we explained in detail to Google”, Sheinbaum said.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum says her gov’t will lodge a complaint with Google after it changed “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” for US users of its map service, adding Mexico will request to rename North America as Mexican America. pic.twitter.com/MOPx3TFEPH

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 29, 2025

This comes after Google announced that Google Maps users in the US would see the Gulf of Mexico renamed as the Gulf of America. According to CNN, Google said its move was in line with its “practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources”.

Users in Mexico continue to see the “Gulf of Mexico in Google Maps while the rest of the world will see both names.

Trump has in an executive order directed that the body of water be renamed the Gulf of America “in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our nation’s economy and its people.” The order calls for all federal government maps and documents to reflect the change.

Trump has also ordered to change the name of US’ highest mountain, Denali, back to Mount Mckinley. Google said it would also update the name of its maps when the Geographic Names Information System, a government database of names and location data, is updated, CNN reported. (ANI)