Apple Maps shows Crimea in Russia as part of Russia

Apple Maps has started showing Crimea as part of Russia, but only in Russia itself. The company is doing this at the request of the Russian government. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, which was then part of Ukraine.

It concerns Apple Maps and the Weather app, the Duma reports in a statement. The Duma is the Russian parliament. Parliament is talking about an ‘error that has been corrected’ in depicting Crimea. In Russia, users see Crimea as part of Russia, elsewhere it is not, the BBC says. Then Crimea is not part of a country.

Russia annexed Crimea five years ago and the international community has not yet recognized the annexation. Google, which also has a map program with Maps, does not show Crimea as part of any country. Google simply calls the area ‘Crimean Peninsula’, without adding a country. It does use the Russian names of places, the BBC claims.

It is unknown why Apple is giving in to the Russian government right now. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the negotiations have been ongoing since May. Failure to recognize Crimea as Russian territory would also be a criminal offense in Russia. Apple has not explained the choice.

Source: BBC