Google said Google Maps has changed the name of “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” for users in the US, following an executive order by President Donald Trump to rename the lake.
Trump announced the change on Thursday, renaming the smallest of the five Great Lakes amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada that has seen both countries impose reciprocal tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods.
The executive order applies to the United States Geographic Names Information System, which establishes standards for official U.S. maps.
However, it does not affect Canada’s naming conventions or how the lake is referred to elsewhere in the world.
“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names,” Google said in a blog post issued on Saturday.
Google Maps made a similar change to the Gulf of Mexico last year, labeling it the “Gulf of America” after Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office renaming the body of water.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney immediately rejected the renaming of Lake Ontario on Thursday.
