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Encyclopaedia Britannica@Britannica · Feb 12, 2025

Encyclopædia Britannica will continue to use ‘Gulf of Mexico’ for a few reasons: -We serve an international audience,…

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Summary

Encyclopædia Britannica will maintain the name 'Gulf of Mexico' for international consistency and historical precedent spanning 425+ years, while clarifying the distinction between international and domestic geographic naming authority. The publisher will update domestic U.S. geographic names like Alaska's mountain when officially changed by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, as they did previously with Denali/Mount McKinley.

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  1. #1

    Encyclopædia Britannica will continue to use ‘Gulf of Mexico’ for a few reasons: -We serve an international audience, a majority of which is outside the U.S. -The Gulf of Mexico is an international body of water, and the U.S.’s authority to rename it is ambiguous. 🧵⬇️

  2. #2

    -It has been called the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ for more than 425 years. But it’s important to note the distinction between international and domestic areas.

  3. #3

    President Trump has also signed an executive order to change the name of the Alaskan mountain called ‘Denali’ back to its former name, ‘Mount McKinley.’

  4. #4

    When that change is made official by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, we will also make that change. Just as we did in 2015 when President Barack Obama changed the name of 'McKinley' to ‘Denali.’

  5. #5

    Anyway, here's a map from our 1st Edition (1768).