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A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean into a landmass, typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of salt water that are enclosed by the coastline. The Gulf Of Mexico is a 218,000 square-mile semi-enclosed, oceanic basin connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Straits of Florida and to the Caribbean Sea by the Yucatan Channel. Many important watersheds, such as the Mississippi River, drain into the Gulf of Mexico. 
In 1519, the Spanish explorer and map-maker Alonso Álvarez de Pineda led a Spanish expedition that, for the first time, mapped the coast of Texas along the Gulf of Mexico. However, the pictured map is created by Etsy and based on rare historical information from 1559. The Gulf Of Mexico, ultimately deriving from Mexica, the Nahuatl term for the Aztecs, has been the common name since the mid-17th century. French Jesuits used this name as early as 1672. The name of the entire body of water is maintained by the International Hydrographic Organization in a registry of such names agreed to by the countries adjacent to the body. Now, Trump said in his inaugural address that he will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” repeating an idea he first brought up earlier this month during a news conference. On January 20, 2025, the White House published that "national interest" on its website The Americans call it "restoring" but that is not the case. Restoring means bringing back or re-establishing. Well, the latter has happened before when the waters were called "Great Antillean Gulf" and "Cathayan Sea" (Mare Cathaynum). There is no country carrying the name "America", and the inlet waters never had the name "Gulf Of America" just like historic Palestine never carried the name "Israel" before 1948. It is about outright renaming. and erasing the history of the waters. Where do I know this from? I would call Trump's move 'senile nationalism by an overaged president'.' |