When the Gulf of Mexico disappears from the map

For more than four centuries, the bay between the USA, Mexico and Cuba has been known worldwide as the Gulf of Mexico . The new US president does not like this. Immediately after taking office, Donald Trump initiated a renaming: the body of water is to be called the "Gulf of America" ​​from now on. And according to the White House, the whole world should stick to this.

"It is a fact that the waters off the coast of Louisiana are called the Gulf of America," said government spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday. "It is very important for this government that we understand this correctly," she stressed. This applies "not only to the people here at home, but also to the rest of the world."

Trump had already announced a name change before he took office on January 20th and signed the corresponding order immediately after moving into the White House. The president thus has the power to change the name for official purposes within the USA. However, he cannot dictate that other countries also follow the new regulation.

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is responsible for the uniform surveying and mapping of seas and other navigable waters. It also names some of them. However, it happens that different countries use different names for the same body of water in their own documents. The IHO's approximately 100 member states include both the USA and Mexico.

objection from Mexico

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum immediately rejected the move from Washington. Trump could use any name he wanted for the US part of the water, she explained, adding: "For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the whole world it is still the Gulf of Mexico." Shortly before, Trump had started a tariff dispute with Mexico .

After Trump's renaming decree, Google Maps began using the name "Gulf of America" ​​for users in the US. It is common practice to follow the government name in such cases, the Internet service explained. Users in Mexico will continue to see Gulf of Mexico. Those logging in from other countries will see both names, with "Gulf of America" ​​in parentheses. Apple Maps has also switched to the US name in some browsers.

exclusion of AP journalists

The AP news agency continues to refer to the internationally famous Gulf of Mexico, although it also refers to Trump's decision. The reason given was that as a global news organization, the AP must ensure that place names and geographical information are recognizable to all target groups. The White House has asked the Associated Press to change its guidelines - and denied AP journalists access to report on several events.

The idea of ​​changing the name of the sea south of the USA is not entirely new. In 2012, a member of the Mississippi parliament proposed renaming parts of the bay. The body of water that borders the US state's beaches should be called the "Gulf of America," the parliamentarian suggested.

He later said it was a joke: Because the Republican Party apparently wanted to keep everything Mexican out in its crackdown on illegal immigration, the renaming would have contributed to that, he explained the satirical suggestion.

Gulf of America – because of oil spill?

And two years earlier, comedian Stephen Colbert had suggested a name change in connection with the environmental disaster following the accident on the oil platform "Deepwater Horizon": The body of water should be called the "Gulf of America" ​​because "we ruined it," Colbert said on his show.

Meanwhile, there is also disagreement about the naming elsewhere on the US-Mexico border. In the USA, the river that separates Texas and northern Mexico is called the Rio Grande. To the south of that, it is the Rio Bravo.