Apple Maps renames Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’ for US users after Trump’s order

Washington: Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as “Lake America” on its Maps app for users in the United States, following a similar move by Google after US President Donald Trump ordered the body of water to be renamed amid his escalating trade tensions with Canada.

As of Wednesday morning, Apple Maps showed “Lake America” to US users viewing the lake, which lies between New York state and Canada’s Ontario province. Users outside the US continued to see the name Lake Ontario.

Apple has not immediately commented on the change. Earlier this week, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox News that Trump had contacted Apple “directly” regarding the renaming.

Trump announced the new “Lake America” name last week, in one of the latest moves in his increasingly contentious relationship with Canada. His executive order on Friday instructed the US Interior Department to update the name in the country’s official geographic naming system.

Google Maps introduced the change over the weekend, citing Trump’s order and its existing policy of using names recognised by the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

Under Google’s updated labelling, users in the US see “Lake America”, while those in Canada continue to see “Lake Ontario”. Users elsewhere see both names.

Trump’s order, however, does not compel Canada to adopt the new name. Canadian officials have rejected the change, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying the lake would remain “Lake Ontario” to Canadians and the rest of the world.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also criticised the move, pointing to the lake’s Indigenous origins and noting that its name predates both Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.

The name Lake Ontario is derived from the Huron Indigenous term “oniatarí:io”, meaning “lake of shining waters”.

The move is not the first time Trump has sought to rename a body of water extending beyond US territory. Last year, he ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed the Gulf of America. Apple and Google subsequently adopted the new name on their US map services, while retaining different naming conventions elsewhere.

However, not all mapping services have followed the US administration’s lead. MapQuest has said it will not change its default label for Lake Ontario. The platform has instead given users an option to rename the lake through a separate online tool.

MapQuest, owned by California-based System1, has also recently reported a surge in downloads, topping the Apple App Store’s free-app charts for new downloads in both the US and Canada on Wednesday.

(AP)