US Government's Department of the Interior said on Friday (January 24) that it had officially changed name of Gulf of Mexico. In a press release on its official website, the department said that the gulf will be officially known as Gulf of America. In addition to this change of name, the department said that name of highest peak in Alaska was being changed from Denali to Mount McKinley.
The name changes were ordered by US President Donald Trump on very first day in office on January 20. Trump signed a flurry of executive orders on his first day in office.
"As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America's highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley," the Department of Interior said in press release on its website.
The highest peak in Alaska had been previously called Mount Mckinley, after former US president William Mckinley. However, in 1975, the state of Alaska requested that the peak be called 'Denali'. The word in Koyukon Indigenous language means 'tall'.
"These changes reaffirm the Nation's commitment to preserving the extraordinary heritage of the United States and ensuring that future generations of Americans celebrate the legacy of its heroes and historic assets," the Department of Interior said.
Trump praised president Mckinley in his inaugural speech on January 20. Trump said that he "made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent - he was a natural businessman."
Trump has threatened high tariffs on imports from a number of countries including American ally Canada. This, he says, will make prizes of US-made products competitive in the domestic market.
McKinley was US president between 1997 and 1901. This was known as the expansionist era when the US acquired Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico.
