People care a lot about national borders – there’s a great scene from the “Blackadder” series, for example, in which one soldier tries to convince another of the value of the seventeen square feet of land they’ve gained. But if seventeen square feet is a cause for celebration, Argentina must now be throwing a heck of a party – Google tried to give it a whole village.
A quick look at a Google Earth screenshot confirms the mistake – Villa O’Higgins, named after Bernardo O’Higgins, is shown as being located within Argentina’s borders. But, according to everyone except Google, Villa O’Higgins is actually a Chilean town. And that kind of makes sense, since Bernardo O’Higgins was a hero in the Chilean War of Independence.
Chile’s Foreign Ministry has, according to USA Today, asked Google if it could please have its village back. The search engine company claims to be looking into the matter.
“We have received the request and are working with our partners to get more precise data for the region,” stated Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn. “We’re constantly working to improve the quality and accuracy of our maps. This is an ongoing process as we receive new information from third party data providers.”
So it looks as if Argentina may get to hold onto Villa O’Higgins for a while yet. One interesting issue in all of this is the fact that Google recently opened its regional headquarters in Argentina. Google also, as it so happens, appears to have selected Argentina over Chile. But to be honest, this matter is, while interesting, probably entirely unrelated.
