Google Maps renames Lake Ontario to “Lake of America” in the United States

American users of Google Maps will now see “Lake America” appear on the maps, to designate this body of water located on the border of the United States and Canada, and which was previously called Lake Ontario. Google communicated the news this Sunday, which allows the American giant to comply with Donald Trump's demands. On Thursday, the US president issued an executive order to officially change the name of the smallest of the five North American Great Lakes. A decision which comes against a backdrop of growing trade tensions between the two countries.

“As we update Google Maps to reflect the name changes noted in official government sources, namely the GNIS for the United States, Maps users in the United States will see “Lake America,” those in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario,” and those outside the United States and Canada will see both names,” Google said in a blog post published Saturday.

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The “GNIS” in question is the Geographic Names Information System, that is to say, in French, the Geographical Names Information System. This database lists more than two million physical and cultural names in the United States. The Order changed the GNIS, but this has no impact on Canadian naming conventions or how the rest of the world refers to this lake. “Canadians also know that we have to call things what they are, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever,” wrote Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on his X account.

Google had already renamed the Gulf of Mexico

The two countries, for the moment, are going head to head when it comes to customs taxes. Canada responded to new US customs duties that came into force on Saturday with a series of surcharges targeting certain American products, after the breakdown of trade negotiations between the two countries. These measures will be effective on September 8.