Google Earth, a free programme that provides impressive images of the whole world, has kindled something of a row between Britons and Argentinians over the Falklands.
Today's Daily Telegraph has a brief story (too small for a link) about how some Argentinian users on Google Earth have been renaming places on the islands, which the two nations fought a war over in 1982, with Hispanic names. The program, which uses satellite maps, allows users to insert the names of places.
Port Stanley has been changed to Puerto Argentino, the name used by Argentina when the president, General Leopoldo Galtieri, ordered the invasion of the islands.
The Telegraph reports that some British servicemen and their families are upset and have demanded the names be changed back. A colleague tells me that it is common for maps in Argentina to all have only Argentinian names on the Falkland Islands, which they call Islas Malvinas.
Curiously, the story does not appear when you search for it in Google News.
Google Earth has been widely praised, although officials in some nations are reported to be anxious it could pose a security risk.
