Mexico’s president has asked Google not to use Donald Trump’s new name for the Gulf of Mexico – which he pledged to change to Gulf of America in one of his first acts as president.
Earlier this week, Google said it would change the name of the body of water on Google Maps once it is officially updated in the US Geographic Names System.
According to Mexico, the US cannot legally change the Gulf’s name because under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles from the coastline.
Reading out her letter to Google at a press conference on Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said “if a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles”, CNN reported.
“It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico.”
Ms Sheinbaum has previously joked that she was considering renaming the continent of North America to “Mexican America” in her country.
She said: “We ask that when you put Mexican America in the search engine, the map appears that we presented.”
A founding document from 1814, which preceded Mexico’s constitution, used that name for the continent.
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Under the changes on Google Maps, American users would see it online as the Gulf of America, while Mexican and Cuban users would see the name remain the Gulf of Mexico. Worldwide users would see both names.
On Monday, Google explained the changes as part of “longstanding practice,” and added: “When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name.
“Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.”