Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed on Thursday her disagreement with Google's decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" following an order from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sheinbaum's administration presented a formal letter to Google arguing against the unilateral renaming of a body of water shared by the U.S., Mexico, and Cuba.
Google announced that it will change the name from "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America" for U.S. users upon updating the U.S. Geographic Names System while retaining the original name in Mexico. The dual names will be visible to users outside of these countries on Google Maps.
Notably, Sheinbaum and Trump have exchanged banter on the topic, with Sheinbaum suggesting renaming North America as "Mexican America" following an old map from 1607.
Regarding the naming dispute, Mexico cited the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, emphasizing that a country's sovereign territory extends up to 12 nautical miles from its coastline, making the proposed name change applicable within U.S. coastal limits only.
Sheinbaum emphasized this point during her routine press briefing, urging Google to feature prominently the map of "Mexican America" when searched.