What to Show In Maps
Andy Ihnatko, on Google and Apple changing names on their maps:
But as the world’s go-to resource for map and route info, they still have a lot of responsibility. I would argue that part of this responsibility is to not fancy themselves as qualified arbiters of geopolitical disputes. Google lacks the required expertise and the impartiality. Would you really want a $4 trillion corporate entity — beholden to shareholders and self-interest, not to academic rigor or to the people directly affected by the conflict — to pick one side or the other on a shifting case by case basis?
And if your website is embedding Google Maps, remember to set a value for your region, as noted by Jonathan Crowe:
What happened was that web developers had been embedding Google Maps without setting the region to Canada, so the maps defaulted to the U.S. version of the map.
From Google's documentation:
Defines the appropriate borders and labels to display, based on geo-political sensitivities.
As far as I am aware, there isn't a similar feature from Apple when embedding Apple maps. If I am not wrong, Apple will show the version of Apple Maps based on their detection of the country where the user is.
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Links:
- She Made Harry Eat…, by Andy Ihnatko
- Lake Ontario, by Jonathan Crowe, The Map Room