We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, said US President Donald Trump in his annual statement on Monday. While the everyday name-changing attracted laugh from Hilary Clinton and joy from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, but the question is can Trump truly name it?
” We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America,” Trump said. ” What a wonderful brand. And it’s ideal. It’s correct. And Mexico has to prevent allowing millions of people to put into our land. “
No formal international agreement or process determines the calling of maritime places, nor is there an authoritative global figure with the final say on such brands. However, the International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ) works to standardize maritime names and mediate disputes.
In principle, a mandate from the President could alter the name of the Gulf in national US records, but other states would not be obligated to choose the change, the Guardian reported.
” He ( Trump ) says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf,” said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. ” For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the whole planet it is still the Gulf of Mexico. “
The purchase mandates that within 30 days, the US secretary of the interior may name” the US Continental Shelf place bounded on the east, north and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward limit with Mexico and Cuba. “
The shift highlights historic naming disputes over vital geographic features. For instance, Americans refer to the valley forming the boundary between Texas and the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas as the Rio Grande, while Mexican call it the Rio Bravo.
Like naming discrepancies have generally fueled political tensions between neighboring nations. A distinctive example is the body of water separating Iran and Saudi Arabia, known as the Persian Gulf by Iran and the Arabian Gulf by Saudi Arabia.
