In brief: Mexico is not happy about Google changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps. The country is now threatening to sue the tech company if it doesn’t restore the original name.
Google Maps changed the body of water’s name to the Gulf of America earlier this month. It followed President Trump’s proclamation that decreed the renaming and the subsequent name change by the federal Board on Geographic Names.
Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that Trump’s order only applies to the part of continental shelf under US control, which extends 22 nautical miles from the US coast – not the entire Gulf. But Google is changing the name of the portion of the Gulf that includes Mexico’s and Cuba’s continental shelves.
Mexico argues that the policy violates Mexican sovereignty as the US has jurisdiction over around 46% of the Gulf, while Mexico controls 49% and Cuba controls 5%.
“We do not agree with this, and the Foreign Minister has sent a new letter addressing the issue,” Sheinbaum said. The letter states that under no circumstances does Mexico accept the renaming of any geographic area that includes part of its national territory and that is under its jurisdiction.
The letter to Google adds that “any reference to the ‘Gulf of America’ initiative on your Google Maps platform must be strictly limited to the marine area under U.S. jurisdiction.”
“Any extension beyond that zone exceeds the authority of any national government or private entity. Should that be the case, the Government of Mexico will take the appropriate legal actions as deemed necessary,” it states.
We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.
– News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) January 27, 2025
Although Google Maps users in the US now see the Gulf of America name, it appears as Gulf of Mexico to those in Mexico. The rest of the world sees both names on Google Maps.
Sheinbaum said last week that a civil suit could be launched against Google if it did not correct what she called an “inaccurate designation.”
The Mexican government has been in talks with Google over the issue since January. It will wait for the company’s response to the letter before proceeding with any legal action.
Google says the name change on Maps is part of its long-standing policy of adhering to official government names for locations and other geographical features.
Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, told Sheinbaum’s government that Google was willing to meet in person but would not change its policy.
“While international treaties and conventions are not intended to regulate how private mapping providers represent geographic features, it is our consistent policy to consult multiple authoritative sources to provide the most up to date and accurate representation of the world,” he said.
When Trump first announced the renaming plans ahead of his inauguration, Sheinbaum remarked that Google should rename North America to “América Mexicana,” or “Mexican America,” because an 1814 founding document that preceded Mexico’s constitution referred to it that way.
