Whose Crimea is on the map? How Google and other organizations are caught in the crossfire over the annexation of the peninsula

Since Russian troops invaded the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine in March 2014, the world's topography has struggled to determine where to place the international border between the two countries. Academic textbooks, maps, businesses, and other world organizations have come under fire from Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries depending on whom they have 'given' Crimea to.

This week, Russia criticized Google for 'decommunizing' Ukraine - changing street names in Crimea. Google has adopted Ukrainian versions of 900 geographical names.

Russian Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov advised against trusting 'short-sighted policies' and said he hopes the 'mistake will be corrected.'

But Google is far from the only company involved in the conflict.

Only a few countries, including North Korea, Cuba, Syria, and Venezuela, have recognized Crimea as part of Russia. Other members of the international community - even staunch allies of Moscow like Belarus - abstained during the vote on this issue.

The printing of new school textbooks has also sparked diplomatic discussions between Russia and Ukraine, depending on where the border was printed.

Kazakhstan also angered Russian authorities by ensuring that Crimea remains Ukrainian in academic textbooks. Additionally, the British publisher Oxford University Press came under fire for printing Crimea as part of Russia on a map, prompting complaints from Ukraine's embassy in London.

FIFA also had to choose whether to offend Ukraine or the Kremlin. When the organization presented a promotional video for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it included Crimea as part of the Russian Federation. This sparked protests from Ukrainian diplomats. Coca-Cola made a similar mistake in January when it included Crimea as part of Russia in its advertising campaign.