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Software company Mapquest launched a website allowing people to name the Gulf of America whatever they’d like.
Mapquest is the latest to pipe in on the debate about whether to keep the Gulf of Mexico name or use the new “Gulf of America” title. While Apple, Microsoft, and Google changed the Gulf of Mexico on their maps app to read “Gulf of America” following President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the body of water, Mapquest is straddling the fence to poke fun at the debate.
The “Gulf of Map Explorer” offers users name suggestions that include “Gulf of Nothing,” “Gulf of Anything,” “Gulf of Mapquest,” and “Gulf of Adventure.” Users can type in their own name or hit a randomizer button to produce a name. Users then have the option to share copies of their map on social media via a link.
This comes after the U.S. Geographic Names Information System updated the Gulf of America name earlier this month. Microsoft also updated its Bing Maps app to reflect the change. Both Apple Maps and Bing Maps made the change universal to their users, while Google’s changes are only reflected for users in the United States.
APPLE FOLLOWS GOOGLE TO DISPLAY ‘GULF OF AMERICA’ ON MAPS
In explaining the name change, Trump said the gulf “has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning nation and has remained an indelible part of America.” The president also declared Feb. 9 Gulf of America Day, which was the same day as this year’s Super Bowl.
Mapquest is the senior website for all navigation sites. While it started as a website that predated smartphones, it now has its own app.