Apple Maps users in the US will see the Gulf of Mexico renamed the Gulf of America, a change made this week to align with President Donald Trump’s January executive order. The iPhone maker joins Google in adopting the new name, which only appears for US users—Mexican users will see it called Gulf of Mexico, while other countries will see both names.
Mexico, Cuba, and the US each border the Gulf, which was first named the Gulf of Mexico in the 16th century. The US controls more than 1,600 miles of the Gulf’s coastline—a little less than half of the total—and its sovereign territory extends 12 nautical miles beyond the coast. The country possesses economic rights over a further 200 miles offshore.
The US place names are typically determined by the US Board on Geographic Names, a federal body under the Interior Department. Founded in 1890, the board rules on hundreds of naming conventions annually and has maintained the Geographic Names Information System since the 1970s. In the Gulf’s case, the executive order instructed the agency to update the name.
Apple’s adoption of the change wasn’t legally required, as the president’s order only applies to federal agencies.