Geographical name

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a geographical name or geographical names ( English geographical name ) are proper names for certain areas, places or natural and artificial individual objects on the earth's surface, both on land and on water. They are used in particular in the field of geography and cartography .

description

Geographical names are used for better orientation and location-based communication. Geographical names are also used as names for map series, such as the European Atlas, Map of Scotland. The entirety of all geographical names contained in maps forms a “geographical name asset”. In addition, name books and name databases are created in which the exact location and spelling are noted. A geographical name is transferred from a writing system by means of transcription or transliterationin another. In Germany, forms such as "-thal" are also retained and are not adapted to newer spelling. The retention of the spelling contributes to the unmistakability of the named objects and to their differentiation. One of the committees in Germany that deals with standardization, the unification of spelling and the elaboration of recommendations and guidelines is the Standing Committee for Geographical Names (StAGN), which emerged in 1959 from a working group of the German Society for Cartography . At the international level, the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) is responsible for this.

Terms include, for example:

  • Rock, mountain or mountain names, plains, glaciers, lowlands, passes, valleys
  • Endonyms and exonyms (customary in the area or names for areas abroad)
  • Field names, field names
  • River or body of water names, canals, moors, lakes, reservoirs, rapids, ponds, waterfalls
  • Peninsulas, islands, capes, stretches of coast
  • Country, country, landscape or state names, protected areas and administrative units
  • Seas and parts of the sea, bays, straits
  • Place names, settlements, settlement parts, streets, places
  • Steppes, swamps, forests, deserts

Sometimes the names are used incorrectly. Holland is sometimes equated with the Netherlands even though it is only a part of it, the same is true for England ( United Kingdom ), and America is not just made up of the United States .

There are also protected geographical designations of origin .

See also

literature

  • Friedrich Umlauft: Geographical name book of Austria-Hungary: An explanation of countries, peoples, Gau, river ... A. Hölder, Vienna 1886 ( archive.org ).
  • Johann Georg Theodor Grasse, Friedrich Benedict: Orbis latinus; or, Directory of the most important Latin names of places and countries . Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., Berlin 1909 ( archive.org ).
  • Edmund Oppermann: Geographical Name Book: Explanation of geographical names including pronunciation; Sorted by continents and countries (rivers, mountains, landscapes, cities, etc.) . 2nd, improved and greatly increased edition. Carl Meyer, Hanover 1908, OCLC 11742660 .
  • geographical names . In: Lexicon of Geosciences (=  spectrum of science ). Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2000 ( Spektrum.de ).
  • geographical names . In: Lexicon of cartography and geomatics (=  spectrum of science ). Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2001 ( Spektrum.de ).
  • geographical names . In: Lexicon of Geography (=  spectrum of science ). Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2001 ( Spektrum.de ).
  • Dietmar Urmes: Handbook of geographical names. Their origin, development and meaning . Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-937715-70-3 .
  • Jörn Sievers, Pier-Giorgio Zaccheddu: EuroGeoNames (EGN): Development of a European geographical name data infrastructure . In: Cartographic News . Volume 56, No. 4 , 2006, p. 184-190 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Geographical names. Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy , accessed on October 11, 2019 .
  2. geographical names . In: Lexicon of Cartography and Geomatics . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2001 ( Spektrum.de ).
  3. geographical names . In: Lexicon of Geosciences . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2000 ( Spektrum.de ).