Google Maps to label Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' for US users, keep 'Lake Ontario' for Canada

Published Aug 31, 11:09 PM UTC

Google announced a change to how its Maps application displays the name of Lake Ontario, which borders the United States and Canada. According to the company, users accessing Google Maps from within the United States will see the body of water labeled as 'Lake America.' Users in Canada will continue to see the traditional name 'Lake Ontario.' For users located outside of both the U.S. and Canada, the map will display both names simultaneously. The announcement was made via a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the account unusual_whales, which quoted Google's statement. The change appears to be a localized naming convention update, likely reflecting political or cultural sensitivities, though Google did not provide a specific reason for the alteration in the quoted statement. The post links to further reading but does not specify an effective date or whether the change applies to all map views or only certain zoom levels.