55-536: The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names ( UNGEGN ) is one of the nine expert groups of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and deals with the national and international standardization of geographical names . Every five years it holds the UNGEGN conference . The UNGEGN also publishes international guidelines . The question of standardizing geographical names
110-475: A checklist on the contents of guidelines and recommends that the toponymic guidelines submitted by Austria should serve as a sample of format and contents. It also recommends that a correspondent should be appointed by the UNGEGN to coordinate the work of developing national toponymic guidelines and to maintain communication with national experts involved in their elaboration. At the 5th United Nations Conference on
165-612: A different location, if a country offers to host the conference and to pay the additional costs of hosting the conference away from UN HQ. Each country may send a delegation. Members of these delegations are mainly experts on geographical names from their respective countries. The most recent conference, the 11th, was held in New York in August 2017. Toponymic guidelines (full title: Toponymic guidelines for map and other editors, for international use ) are up-to-date documents promoted by
220-509: A flying golden ram. The name, however, is probably derived from an older language, such as Pelasgian , which was unknown to those who explained its origin. In his Names on the Globe , George R. Stewart theorizes that Hellespont originally meant something like 'narrow Pontus' or 'entrance to Pontus', Pontus being an ancient name for the region around the Black Sea , and by extension, for
275-610: A number of liaison officers. The UNGEGN Bureau consists of a Chair, two Vice-Chairs and two Rapporteurs. The current Bureau is composed as follows: Former chairpersons: UNGEGN is composed of experts from various linguistic/geographical divisions that have been established by the UN Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names. Countries decide for themselves the division(s) to which they wish to belong; some belong to more than one division. A division chair
330-518: A quality platform for high-level engagement among member states and with international financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society on global trends, policies, and action. It resolved to hold biennial high-level Development Cooperation Forums at the national-leadership level, transforming the high-level segment of the Council to review trends in international development cooperation and promote greater coherence in development activities. At
385-567: A state admission to UNESCO , but now this is done by the members of UNESCO themselves. The following is a list of the specialized agencies reporting to the Council: In a report issued in early July 2011, the UN called for spending nearly US$ 2 trillion on green technologies to prevent what it termed "a major planetary catastrophe", warning that "It is rapidly expanding energy use, mainly driven by fossil fuels , that explains why humanity
440-399: A toponym, its specific language, its pronunciation, and its origins and meaning are all important facts to be recorded during name surveys. Scholars have found that toponyms provide valuable insight into the historical geography of a particular region. In 1954, F. M. Powicke said of place-name study that it "uses, enriches and tests the discoveries of archaeology and history and the rules of
495-593: A wide variety of formats, including hard-copy topographic maps as well as digital formats such as geographic information systems , Google Maps , or thesauri like the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names . In 2002, the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names acknowledged that while common, the practice of naming geographical places after living persons (toponymic commemoration) could be problematic. Therefore,
550-506: Is a symbolic reminder that the economic and social work of the United Nations is never finished; there will always be something more that can be done to improve living conditions for the world's people. Toponymy Toponymy , toponymics , or toponomastics is the study of toponyms ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names ), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym
605-632: Is called toponymist . The term toponymy comes from Ancient Greek : τόπος / tópos , 'place', and ὄνομα / onoma , 'name'. The Oxford English Dictionary records toponymy (meaning "place name") first appearing in English in 1876. Since then, toponym has come to replace the term place-name in professional discourse among geographers . Toponyms can be divided in two principal groups: Various types of geographical toponyms (geonyms) include, in alphabetical order: Various types of cosmographical toponyms (cosmonyms) include: Probably
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#1732764760018660-422: Is lacking. Furthermore, UNGEGN facilitates and encourages the discussion of the results of work on national standardization and arising issues, the dissemination of best practices, and a wide user community awareness of nationally authorized geographical names. UNGEGN reports to the UN Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names held at five-yearly intervals. It is supported by a Secretariat provided by
715-506: Is mandated to follow up on the implementation of resolutions and to continue activities between the United Nations Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names held every five years. UNGEGN aims to emphasize the importance of the standardization of geographical names at the national and international levels, to show the benefits of this, and to assist countries in standardization of geographical names where it
770-459: Is not an option". The governance of the multilateral system has historically been complex and fragmented. This has limited the capacity of ECOSOC to influence international policies in trade, finance, and investment. Reform proposals aim to enhance the relevance and contribution of the council. A major reform was approved by the 2005 World Summit based on proposals submitted by secretary-general Kofi Annan . The Summit aimed to establish ECOSOC as
825-486: Is on the verge of breaching planetary sustainability boundaries through global warming , biodiversity loss , and disturbance of the nitrogen-cycle balance and other measures of the sustainability of the earth 's ecosystem ". UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added: "Rather than viewing growth and sustainability as competing goals on a collision course, we must see them as complementary and mutually supportive imperatives". The report concluded that "Business as usual
880-413: Is selected within a division and he/she is encouraged to stimulate activities in the standardization of geographical names within the division, through technical meetings, correspondence, etc. Currently, there are 24 divisions that guide the work of UNGEGN during and between its sessions: Under the umbrella of UNGEGN, several Working Groups have been created to follow up topics and issues which cut across
935-449: Is the general term for a proper name of any geographical feature , and full scope of the term also includes proper names of all cosmographical features. In a more specific sense, the term toponymy refers to an inventory of toponyms, while the discipline researching such names is referred to as toponymics or toponomastics . Toponymy is a branch of onomastics , the study of proper names of all kinds. A person who studies toponymy
990-537: The Persian Gulf naming dispute . On 20 September 1996 a note on the internet reflected a query by a Canadian surfer, who said as follows: 'One producer of maps labeled the water body "Persian Gulf" on a 1977 map of Iran, and then "Arabian Gulf", also in 1977, in a map which focused on the Gulf States . I would gather that this is an indication of the "politics of maps", but I would be interested to know if this
1045-484: The United Nations , responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized agencies , the eight functional commissions, and the five regional commissions under its jurisdiction. ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and formulating policy recommendations addressed to member states and
1100-715: The United Nations Charter was originally signed, the Economic and Social Council consisted of 18 seats. The formal concept of the United Nations Regional Groups did not yet exist, and unlike the Security Council , there was no "gentlemen's agreement" between the superpowers to assign ECOSOC seats. Regardless, with 4 exceptions out of 102 elections ( see list ), a relatively stable pattern emerged and held until 1960: As
1155-576: The United Nations Conference Building was a gift from Sweden . It was conceived by Swedish architect Sven Markelius , one of the 11 architects in the international team that designed the UN headquarters. Wood from Swedish pine trees was used in the delegates' area for the railings and doors. The pipes and ducts in the ceiling above the public gallery were deliberately left exposed; the architect believed that anything useful could be left uncovered. The "unfinished" ceiling
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#17327647600181210-514: The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names recommends that it be avoided and that national authorities should set their own guidelines as to the time required after a person's death for the use of a commemorative name. In the same vein, writers Pinchevski and Torgovnik (2002) consider the naming of streets as a political act in which holders of the legitimate monopoly to name aspire to engrave their ideological views in
1265-407: The United Nations Regional Groups to ensure equal representation. His Excellency Bob Rae was elected the eightieth President of the Economic and Social Council for the 2025 Session on 25 July 2024. Paula Narváez , Representative of Chile, was elected as the seventy-ninth president of the Council on 27 July 2023. She succeeded Lachezara Stoeva , who was elected as the seventy-eighth president of
1320-617: The United Nations Statistical Commission , the central purpose of which is to facilitate the standardization of national geographical names. The purpose of the Conference is not to settle political disputes between states on the use (or non-use) of particular geographical names. The conference takes place every five years at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. It can be conducted at
1375-711: The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Additionally, the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), which reviews the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , is convened under the auspices of the Council every July. The members of ECOSOC are responsible for electing the executive board of UNICEF , the council of the United Nations Development Programme ,
1430-553: The dissolution of the Soviet Union . After 1830, in the wake of the Greek War of Independence and the establishment of an independent Greek state, Turkish, Slavic and Italian place names were Hellenized, as an effort of "toponymic cleansing." This nationalization of place names can also manifest itself in a postcolonial context. In Canada, there have been initiatives in recent years " to restore traditional names to reflect
1485-479: The philologists ." Toponyms not only illustrate ethnic settlement patterns, but they can also help identify discrete periods of immigration. Toponymists are responsible for the active preservation of their region's culture through its toponymy. They typically ensure the ongoing development of a geographical names database and associated publications, for recording and disseminating authoritative hard-copy and digital toponymic data. This data may be disseminated in
1540-616: The Charter was amended again to increase the size of ECOSOC to 54 seats. The seat distribution became: Participation on a continuing basis: Participation on an ad hoc basis: The following are the active functional commission of the Council: The following commissions were disbanded by the Council and replaced by other bodies: The following are the active regional commissions of the Council: The following are some of
1595-520: The Council on 25 July 2022, succeeding Collen Vixen Kelapile of Botswana. The Council consists of 54 Member States, which are elected yearly by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats on the Council are allocated ensuring equitable geographic rotation among the United Nations regional groups. Outgoing members are eligible for immediate re-election, and some seats are held by de facto permanent members. In 1945 when
1650-466: The Divisional structure of UNGEGN. In addition, UNGEGN has a Task Team for Africa and coordinates the work of countries in developing their toponymic guidelines. Currently there are 9 UNGEGN Working Groups: The former Working Group on Pronunciation was disbanded in 2017. The United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names is a periodic international conference organised by
1705-764: The High-Level Panel Report on System-Wide Coherence in November 2006 aimed to establish a forum within the ECOSOC as a counter-model to the exclusive clubs of the G8 and G20 . The Forum was to comprise 27 heads of state (L27, corresponding to half of ECOSOC's membership) to meet annually and provide international leadership in the development area. This proposal however, was not approved by the General Assembly. The Economic and Social Council Chamber in
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1760-564: The Indigenous culture wherever possible ". Indigenous mapping is a process that can include restoring place names by Indigenous communities themselves. Frictions sometimes arise between countries because of toponymy, as illustrated by the Macedonia naming dispute in which Greece has claimed the name Macedonia , the Sea of Japan naming dispute between Japan and Korea , as well as
1815-487: The League of Nations and were integrated by its successor, while others were created by the United Nations itself to meet emerging needs. Each agency must negotiate with the Council as to what their relationship will look and work like. This leads to a system where different organizations maintain different types of relationships with the Council. For example, in the 1950s the members of ECOSOC were responsible for granting
1870-537: The Standardization of Geographical Names ( Montreal , August 1987) another two resolutions were passed that concern toponymic guidelines: Resolution nr. 11 recommends that a clear typographical distinction should be made on national maps between toponyms and text items for other purposes. The methods of differentiations should be explained in the national toponymic guidelines. Resolution nr. 14 of this Conference recommends that countries should be strongly encouraged to publish and keep up to date Toponymic Guidelines, and that
1925-558: The Summit it was also decided to hold annual ministerial-level substantive reviews to assess progress in achieving internationally agreed on development goals (particularly the Millennium Development Goals ). These "Annual Ministerial Reviews" will be replaced by the High-Level Political Forum from 2016 onwards after the new post-MDG/post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals are agreed upon. Subsequent proposals by
1980-406: The UNGEGN, it was decided to add for international use to the title. Resolution nr. 4, passed at the 4th UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in 1982, presented a checklist of items which toponymic guidelines should contain: United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ) is one of the six principal organs of
2035-617: The UNGEGN. The aim of these documents is to compile information on toponymic issues of a certain country, especially from the perspective of standardization of geographical names. At the Third United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names held in August/September 1977 at Athens , gathering and dissemination of toponymic information was discussed. The great variation in approaches from country to country led Josef Breu , who
2090-491: The United Nations Secretariat should provide appropriate assistance for their publication and dissemination. At the 6th UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (New York, August/September 1992) resolution nr. 14 recommends toponymic guidelines in combined volumes, in at least one of the working languages of the United Nations, and that provision should be made to issue the guidelines in
2145-495: The United Nations Statistics Division, and its Bureau. UNGEGN meets formally on two occasions between Conferences and works on names standardization through Working Groups and Special task teams, as well as through Divisions. These so-called Divisions are groups of countries with common interests based on geography and/or language. To interact with other scientific organizations, UNGEGN has appointed
2200-586: The United Nations System. It has 54 members. In addition to a rotating membership of 54 UN member states, over 1,600 nongovernmental organizations have consultative status with the Council to participate in the work of the United Nations. ECOSOC holds one four-week session each year in July, and since 1998 has also held an annual meeting in April with finance ministers of heading key committees of
2255-547: The World Cartography bulletin. The title of the Toponymic Guidelines has been modified in 1982 and 1986. Whereas Breu in his sample used the title Toponymic Guidelines for International Cartography , the above-mentioned resolution nr. 4 of the 4th UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names uses the title Toponymic guidelines for map and other editors . In 1986, on the 12th Session of
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2310-411: The committee of UNHCR , and various commissions and other bodies under its jurisdiction. ECOSOC is also responsible for tasks such as reviewing and updating the UN list of least developed countries . The president of the Council is elected for a one-year term and chosen from the small or medium sized states represented on the Council at the beginning of each new session. The presidency rotates among
2365-477: The confirmation that national standardization should be the basis of international standardization. The remit of UNGEGN is to deal with the problems of domestic and international standardization of geographical names, and to offer suggestions and recommendations for (mainly linguistic) standardization. Being one of the seven expert groups of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, UNGEGN
2420-531: The first toponymists were the storytellers and poets who explained the origin of specific place names as part of their tales; sometimes place-names served as the basis for their etiological legends. The process of folk etymology usually took over, whereby a false meaning was extracted from a name based on its structure or sounds. Thus, for example, the toponym of Hellespont was explained by Greek poets as being named after Helle , daughter of Athamas , who drowned there as she crossed it with her brother Phrixus on
2475-626: The most useful geographical reference system in the world. Consistency and accuracy are essential in referring to a place to prevent confusion in everyday business and recreation. A toponymist, through well-established local principles and procedures developed in cooperation and consultation with the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN), applies the science of toponymy to establish officially recognized geographical names. A toponymist relies not only on maps and local histories, but interviews with local residents to determine names with established local usage. The exact application of
2530-414: The new map to specify the detailed topographical portrayal and after consulting with and authorization of messr. Theodor von Heuglin and count Karl Graf von Waldburg-Zeil I have entered 118 names in the map: partly they are the names derived from celebrities of arctic explorations and discoveries, arctic travellers anyway as well as excellent friends, patrons, and participants of different nationalities in
2585-470: The newest northpolar expeditions, partly eminent German travellers in Africa, Australia, America ...". Toponyms may have different names through time, due to changes and developments in languages, political developments and border adjustments to name but a few. More recently many postcolonial countries revert to their own nomenclature for toponyms that have been named by colonial powers. Place names provide
2640-581: The number of United Nations members grew with decolonization , the pattern began to break down starting in 1961, with nations in Africa winning elections to seats formerly held by Western Europe and the Republic of China (Taiwan) . In 1965, the Charter was amended to increase the size of ECOSOC to 27 seats, and the Regional Groups were formally introduced. The seat distribution became: In 1973,
2695-420: The other bodies that the Council oversees in some capacity: The specialized agencies of the United Nations are autonomous organizations working within the United Nations System, meaning that while they report their activities to the Economic and Social Council, they are mostly free to their own devices. Some were created before the United Nations existed and were integrated into the system, others were created by
2750-441: The sea itself. Especially in the 19th century, the age of exploration, a lot of toponyms got a different name because of national pride. Thus the famous German cartographer Petermann thought that the naming of newly discovered physical features was one of the privileges of a map-editor, especially as he was fed up with forever encountering toponyms like 'Victoria', 'Wellington', 'Smith', 'Jones', etc. He writes: "While constructing
2805-440: The social space. Similarly, the revisionist practice of renaming streets , as both the celebration of triumph and the repudiation of the old regime is another issue of toponymy. Also, in the context of Slavic nationalism , the name of Saint Petersburg was changed to the more Slavic sounding Petrograd from 1914 to 1924, then to Leningrad following the death of Vladimir Lenin and back to Saint-Peterburg in 1991 following
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#17327647600182860-447: The table of contents which Breu had already outlined in 1977. The echo on Breus proposal was positive. In the years to come four resolutions were adopted in favour of the promotion of toponymic guidelines. At the 4th UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names ( Geneva , August/September 1982) resolution nr. 4 was drafted, concerning the publication of toponymic guidelines for map and other editors: This resolution presents
2915-455: Was done to avoid upsetting users of the Iran map and users of the map showing Arab Gulf States'. This symbolizes a further aspect of the topic, namely the spilling over of the problem from the purely political to the economic sphere. A geographic names board is an official body established by a government to decide on official names for geographical areas and features. Most countries have such
2970-633: Was elected Chair of the United Nations Group of Experts (UNGEGN) on that very Conference, to initiate the compilation of more or less standardized toponymic guidelines. As a sample for these guidelines he elaborated Toponymic Guidelines for International Cartography of his native Austria and presented them as Working Paper Nr. 5 at the Eighth Session of the UNGEGN, held in February/March 1979 at New York . This sample sticks to
3025-569: Was raised by the United Nations Cartographic Section of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in the late 1940s. After discussions in the 1950s and ECOSOC resolution 715A (XXVII) of 1959, the first meeting of a group of experts was convened in New York City in 1960. This group recommended that a UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names be held. In 1967 this took place in Geneva , with
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