US President Donald Trump wants the Gulf of Mexico, which is surrounded by the USA, Mexico, and Cuba, to be renamed the Gulf of America. After his inauguration in January, President Trump said: "America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth." He added: "We are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America." The U.S. government declared that it "is proud to announce the implementation of name restorations that honor the legacy of American greatness".
The US Board on Geographic Names can use "Gulf of America" on official US maps. However, no international organization has the jurisdiction to mandate the global acceptance of name changes. Mexico's president has opposed the name change. She said the name "Gulf of Mexico" has existed for four centuries. She said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a country's territory only extends 19 kilometres from its coastline. She joked that if there were to be name changes, the United States should be called "Mexican America," as on a map from 1607.
Try the same news story at these levels:
Gulf of Mexico - Level 4 or Gulf of Mexico - Level 6
Sources- https://theconversation.com/can-trump-just-order-new-names-for-denali-and-the-gulf-of-mexico-a-geographer-explains-who-decides-what-goes-on-the-map-248112
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/30/gulf-of-mexico-or-gulf-of-america-google-maps-and-contentious-geography
- https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-administration-says-gulf-america-name-change-now-official-2025-01-24/
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