Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote to Google after the internet giant agreed to follow US President Donald Trump's directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the US cannot change the name, CNN reported.

Sheinbaum told reporters that, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, US sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles. "In the case of Mexico, where are we completely sovereign? In the area is established as 12 nautical miles from the coastline, and this applies to all countries worldwide. If a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles. It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico. This is what we explained in detail to Google," Sheinbaum said.

This follows Google's announcement that Google Maps users in the US will now see the Gulf of Mexico labelled as the Gulf of America. CNN said that Google declared the adjustment to be consistent with its "practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources." While the rest of the world will see both names, users in Mexico will still see the "Gulf of Mexico" on Google Maps. In an executive order, Trump issued a directive to rename the body of water the Gulf of America "in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our nation's economy and its people." 

All federal government maps and documentation must be updated to reflect the change, according to the decree. Trump has ordered the name of the US's highest mountain, Denali, to be changed back to Mount McKinley. According to CNN, Google will update its maps once the Geographic Names Information System, a government database of names and locations, is updated.