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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
RFI

BIZARRE: Google maps 20 years of plotting a course through geopolitics - You Need To See This

Google Maps Google MAPS Donald Trump United States Muammar Gaddafi North America Crimea
The Gulf of Mexico, as seen on the Google Maps app on 28 January. Getty Images via AFP - JUSTIN SULLIVAN

As Google Maps celebrates the 20th anniversary of its launch in North America, new questions are arising over the way it shapes our view of the world, thanks to its compliance with demands from Donald Trump to change the names of geographic locations.

This anniversary fell on Saturday, 8 February, and on Monday Google announced that it had changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" for those using its Maps application inside the United States, complying with an executive order by President Trump.

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