Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has formally urged Google to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America for users based in the United States. This change follows an executive order from US President Donald Trump during his first week in office. The Gulf of Mexico, a significant international sea bordered by the United States, Cuba, and Mexico, will retain its historical name elsewhere in the world.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea outlines that a nation's sovereignty extends only up to 12 nautical miles from its coastline, a fact Mexico emphasizes to argue against the legality of the name change. President Sheinbaum expressed concern that the renaming undermines international conventions and criticized Google for yielding to such unilateral mandates.
"For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico." – Claudia Sheinbaum
Google plans to implement this name change solely within the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico and only for users located in the United States. In response to inquiries about this decision, Google stated:
"We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources." – Google
"When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name." – Google
The renaming initiative also includes reverting Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, echoing another order from President Trump. However, Google has not yet responded to requests from the BBC for further comment on these controversial changes.
President Sheinbaum humorously suggested that Mexico might request additional name changes, such as renaming North America to "América Mexicana," highlighting the absurdity of altering long-standing geographical names.
"By the way, we are also going to ask for Mexican America to appear on the map." – Claudia Sheinbaum
Sheinbaum also stressed that any lawful name change could only apply within 12 nautical miles from the United States' coast.
"[The name change] could only correspond to the 12 nautical miles away from the coastlines of the United States of America," – Claudia Sheinbaum
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