Google Maps Renames Lake Ontario to Lake America for US Users
POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — Google has initiated a change in its mapping service, now displaying ‘Lake America’ for US users instead of ‘Lake Ontario’. This follows...
POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — Google has initiated a change in its mapping service, now displaying ‘Lake America’ for US users instead of ‘Lake Ontario’. This follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the lake, a move made in the midst of escalating trade tensions between the United States and Canada.
The executive order, signed last week, directs the renaming of the lake situated between Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, and New York state. This decision comes after Trump threatened the change earlier, as trade dynamics between the two historically allied nations reached a critical point.
US residents will now see ‘Lake America’ on their maps, whereas Canadians will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario’. For users outside these countries, both names will be displayed, with ‘Lake America’ shown in parentheses.
Google stated that these updates adhere to their policy for bodies of water with varying names across countries and are currently being rolled out. The name change in the US is in response to the formal update in the Geographic Names Information System, which collaborates with the US Board on Geographic Names to standardize geographic names for federal use.
The renaming follows a series of tariffs imposed by both nations. The US began applying 50% tariffs on numerous Canadian goods earlier this month, leading Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to announce retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on US goods.
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White House Communications Director Steven Cheung expressed enthusiasm about the change on social media, stating, ‘it is official! LAKE AMERICA on Google Maps.’
However, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul made it clear that the state would not adopt the new name, saying, ‘New York will not be calling it that.’ This renaming is not the first of its kind under Trump’s administration; the Gulf of Mexico was previously renamed the ‘Gulf of America’.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
