Notices by OpenCage (opencage@en.osm.town)

2/ There are several main reasons why places may have several names:

a. different names in different languages (ex: Munich / München)

b. Name changes due to changing borders (bye, bye Czechoslovakia)

c. Name changes for political reasons ( Bombay / Mumbai)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12099596

#geoweirdness

3/ Let's dive into some examples

Many parts of the world are multi-lingual.

For example the mountainous South Tyrol region of Italy 🇮🇹, close to Austria 🇦🇹. Much of the population speaks German, and calls the area Südtirol. In Italian it is the Alto Adige. Pretty much every town, village, and even street in the region has both a German and Italian name.

Similar situations exist in other multi-lingual regions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Tyrol

#geoweirdness

4/ Sometimes borders shift. Kaliningrad (Калинингра́д) is a Russian 🇷🇺 semi-exclave on the Baltic coast between Poland 🇵🇱 and Lithuania 🇱🇹.
Originally an old Prussian settlement, in the 13th century it was invaded by the Teutonic Knights and renamed Königsberg after King Ottokar II.

After WW2 it was transferred to Soviet control and renamed Kaliningrad, after Soviet leader, Mikhail Kalinin. Later it and became part of Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigsberg

#geoweirdness

5/ Sometimes language changes. A famous example is Beijing 🇨🇳, known in Chinese as 北京 (North, Capital).

For much of recent history, dating back to early interactions with the West, it was known as Peking.

In 1958, China moved away from its ties with the west and adopted the Pinyin writing system, replacing the Wade-Giles romanized transliteration. This marked the end of Peking and the beginning of Beijing!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing

https://ruqintravel.com/china-destination-guides/beijing-and-peking/

#geoweirdness

6/ Many, many naming disputes are political in nature.

A famous example in the English speaking world: Depending on political persuasions the Northern Irish city is known as either “Londonderry” or “Derry”.

It’s complex, and well worth a read up on:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derry/Londonderry_name_dispute

#geoweirdness

Let's close out the week with a #geoweirdness thread about a topic that we endlessly battle with: places with multiple names.

1/

This week on #geoweirdness we are back to Europe 🇪🇺.

Let's visit the geographic peculiarities of Austria 🇦🇹

1/n

We originally had a different topic planned for this week's #geoweirdness thread, but the global discussion has turned to Greenland 🇬🇱, so let's go with it.

Join us as we consider the geographic oddities of the world's northernmost territory.

1/

@vkc @underdarkGIS Slow is steady. Steady is fast.

Irish 🇮🇪 #geoweirdness, secrets strange and bold,
across the isle, an odd tale to be told.
Cork to Donegal,
we'll unveil it all -
in this thread, the story will unfold.

1/

2. First of all, some clarification on terms: Ireland is an island in the north Atlantic.

The island is divided between the country Ireland 🇮🇪 (Éire in Irish, and
sometimes referred to as the "Republic of Ireland" or simply "the Republic") and Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom 🇬🇧.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Irish_state

#geoweirdness

3. Ireland 🇮🇪 is part of the EU 🇪🇺, and the land border and freedom of movement with the UK 🇬🇧 proved to be a tricky point to resolve in Brexit negotiations.

The "border" itself is 499km long with about 300 crossings, often entirely unmarked.

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/gallery/border-lines-between-uk-ireland-16678901

#geoweirdness

In today's episode of why geocoding is hard

https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1077433129

#geocoding

4/ France 🇫🇷 also includes the islands Saint Pierre and Miquelon 🇵🇲 (ISO code "PM") just off the coast of Canada 🇨🇦

#geoweirdness

5/ France 🇫🇷 has numerous Caribbean islands, including Saint Martin where it shares a land border with the Kingdom of the Netherlands 🇳🇱 territory Sint Maarten 🇸🇽

#geoweirdness

6/ France 🇫🇷 once had a territorial dispute with ... Mexico 🇲🇽 regarding ownership of tiny Clipperton Island in the Pacific.

Arbitration determined it to belong to France
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipperton_Island

Here's our recent Mexican #geoweirdness thread
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/109851103892999726

A big welcome to all our new followers from recent days.

Once a week we do a thread about geo stuff, this week we turn our attention to one of the most geographically strange countries of them all: France 🇫🇷

Join us for this week's #geoweirdness thread

1/n

2/ Where to begin?

First up, what most people think of as 🇫🇷 France is actually only "Metropolitan France"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_France

But France is much bigger and includes many other territories.

#geoweirdness

3/ As we covered in our #geoweirdness thread from a few weeks ago, 🇫🇷France's longest border is, perhaps surprisingly, with ... 🇧🇷 Brazil along the border of the French Département de la Guyane (French Guiana 🇬🇫)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana

#geoweirdness

See our thread on Brazilian #geoweirdness
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/109851103892999726

7/ As we mentioned in last week's thread - France 🇫🇷 and Italy 🇮🇹 have an open border dispute about the exact course of their border on Mont Blanc 🏔️ in the Alps

#geoweirdness