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The 'OG' online map platform, MapQuest, says it won't change the name of Lake Ontario
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure the United States can't change the name of a body of water that's shared between multiple countries. If it's not that, it still hasn't gotten any sort of congressional approval.
Edit: Lake Michigan is the only one that's fully within the US. The others are patrolled by both the US Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard, both have the ability to arrest anyone on either side of the border. The state governments that border the lakes have some power over them, but they're held in trust for public use. The International Joint Commission resolves any disputes regarding them. I'm not quite sure what would have to go into changing the name of Lake Ontario, but it would at least require Canadian approval and US congressional approval, perhaps even approval from the state of New York and the province of Ontario. Oh yeah, this is also completely stupid and should under no circumstances actually happen.
Technically, there is no lake Michigan, only lake Michigan-Huron.
Interesting. So why exactly is a distinction made? Some political reason from the past?
It's simply convention. Although the Straits of Mackinac are 5 miles wide at the narrowest point, in relation to the size of the lakes it makes a significant demarcation. Sort of like the Straits of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.