Why Google Maps is unable to label a real geographic location but can pinpoint a mythical place remains unexplained.
Iranians have been complaining for months because Google Maps has removed the term “Persian Gulf” from its maps. It does not use the term “Arab Gulf.” It simply places no name whatsoever on the body of water named the Persian Gulf. That was presumably done in an effort to avoid getting caught in the crossfire between Arabs and Persians, but it has actually subjected it to many angry comments and ridicule from Iranians.
Now Google Maps has added the astounding location of “Tehrangeles,” which is just an Iranian-American joke term referring to the concentration of Iranian-Americans in and around Los Angeles.
But, if you enter the word “Tehrangeles” in Google Maps, it will pinpoint the spot for you in the 10600 block of Kinnard Avenue in Los Angeles. To make sure you can’t miss it, there is the label that plainly says “Tehrangeles.”
The pinpointed spot has nothing uniquely Persian about it. It is, however, a half dozen blocks east of Westwood Boulevard, which has long enjoyed a concentration of Persian shops and restaurants.
Unlike many US ethnic communities whose people tended to concentrate themselves in ghettoes that then drew names like Germantown, Chinatown and Little Italy, Iranians aren’t known for settling down in a few square blocks. There is no Persiatown or Little Iran in New York, or Washington or Chicago.
Around a third of all Iranian-Americans live in the greater Los Angeles area, but they are spread from Orange County south of Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley far north of the city. The biggest concentration of Iranian-Americans is probably in the city of Beverly Hills, where about 20 percent of the population is thought to be Iranian-born. It is also heavily Jewish Iranians, and one member of its City Council and one member of its School Board are both Iranian Jews.
Tehrangeles is a concept or mental state, not a geographic location. Or at least it was until Google Maps put it at 10616 Kinnard Avenue. For those who wish to know more about Tehrangeles, it is a five-story condominium.
For the Persian Gulf, don’t try Google Maps. But if you want to find Mud Lake, a circular pond 200 meters in diameter and more than a mile from the nearest road in the Canadian province of Ontario, it is clearly marked on Google Maps.
