Washington: Google Maps has started showing Lake America to users in the United States after President Donald Trump ordered the renaming of Lake Ontario.
Google stated that the change follows an update to the US government’s Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which has formally adopted the new name. The mapping service applied different naming rules depending on the user’s location.
Users in the United States will see Lake America, while users in Canada will continue to see Lake Ontario. People accessing Google Maps outside both countries will see both names. Google remarked that the change is being introduced in line with its policy for bodies of water whose names differ between countries.
The renaming follows an executive order signed by Trump on August 27. The decision comes as relations between the United States and Canada faced renewed tension over trade. Trump has also previously ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be referred to as the Gulf of America in the United States.
Trump also suggested that further geographic name changes could be considered. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans could potentially be renamed after referring to the Gulf and the lake as examples.
Google Maps now displays the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America). The company indicates that the same approach will apply to the latest lake name change. For users in Britain, the map was still displaying Lake Ontario at the time of the report.
The decision has drawn criticism in Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed to the long history of the name Lake Ontario. Carney noted that the name comes from the Wendat language and dates back more than 400 years. The name therefore predates both the creation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
The dispute comes as Washington and Ottawa face another difficult period over trade. Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion of Canadian imports this month. Canada has responded with matching measures covering an equal value of US goods, adding another point of tension between the neighbouring countries.
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