Answers, Errata and Discussion

A map of this nature taps into some deep notions of personal identity and can arouse strong nationalist passions. Indeed, I've received many (mostly polite) questions and comments asking why a particular language was used for a label, where a particular name came from or why certain features were included or excluded from the map. The section below explains in greater detail why the map looks the way it does. It also mentions a few mistakes that will be corrected in the next edition of the map.

Where do the country names come from?

The vast majority of names come from the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographic Names and the U.N.'s database of country names. Other sources include the CIA World Fact Book, Wikipedia and various government websites.

X isn't a country.

The map includes disputed territories if they have established de facto sovereignty over their territory, regardless of international recognition.

Also, labels may imply that some areas are sovereign countries when they are not. Such instances are noted in the Errata below.

X isn't a native language.

The Endonym Map expressly does not use the word "native" to describe the languages shown. These languages are local in that they are used officially or by the largest percentage of the local population. Because it is a map of countries (as opposed to peoples), it should more properly be read as a map of languages likely to be used for official business.

It is important to note that an endonym may not necessarily come from an area's indigenous language. Indeed, as a lasting effect of European colonialism, indigenous languages are often minority languages. The intent of this map is not to show place names in their "original" languages, but with the languages that are currently in use. In that sense, many of these names are native (i.e. used by local natives). But because of the potential for ambiguity and confusion, this map does not and will not refer to them that way.

Further, because many of these countries did not exist until Europeans carved up their borders, there may not be an indigenous name for them.

Where are Wales and Scotland?

The map shows top-level sovereignty based on ISO 3166 definitions (which are based on publication from the United Nations). Because this is an international map, countries are labeled with the face they show the world. The United Kingdom faces the world as a single entity (save for matters of football), thus it is labeled with the name it uses for international relations.

Ireland should be labeled in Irish as Éire.

Both "Ireland" and "Éire" are endonyms for the country. But because English is the more widely used language there, Ireland was chosen to be the label. Based on the 2006 census, only 30-40% of the population considers itself competent in the Irish language, with less than 10% using the language on an everyday basis.

For similar reasons, Isle of Man is labeled in English rather than Manx.

If you're going to use English, Ireland should be "Republic of Ireland".

The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 provides an official description of the state as the Republic of Ireland. But the Irish constitution states the name is simply Ireland (or Éire), and it would require a constitutional amendment to change it.

On a similar note, Iceland is sometimes referred to as the Republic of Iceland (Lýðveldið Ísland), even by the United Nations. However, the word "republic" is written in lowercase letters in the Icelandic constitution. Thus, as with Ireland, "republic" is used as a descriptor and is not part of the name proper.

Antarctica?

If penguins could speak, what would they call it?

As politically-neutral territory, Antarctica does not have an endonym per se. However, among the territorial claimants, the majority of the continent is composed of English-speaking countries. English is also used as the lingua franca among various research stations there.

Where's the pronunciation guide?

The scope of this map is limited to writing systems. If you wish to find a pronunciation or romanization of a country's name, I recommend starting at its Wikipedia entry.

Errata

Known errors. A special thank you to all the commenters and correspondents who helped me identify these. I apologize for them and they will be fixed.

Fiji is mis-labeled as "Republic of the Fiji Islands". The country changed its name to "Republic of Fiji" in 2011.

The map implies that Tasmania is a separate country. The island is in fact a state of Australia.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands west of Thailand are a Union Territory of India and should be labeled as such.

The island group north of Maldives are the Lakshadweep Islands. They are also a Union Territory of India.

Alaska should be labeled "Alaska (U.S.A)".

The British Virgin Islands should be labeled as "The Virgin Islands". The "British" designation is not part of the territory's official name.

Despite its similarity to Portuguese, Spanish is not a historically significant language in Brazil. Upon further probing, sources used to make that claim cannot be verified. Brazil should not be shaded on the Hispanofonia corner map.

Although English is the only official language in Sierra Leone, 90+% of its population understands Krio. As with Haiti, it should be labeled in two languages. I have not been able to find a full Krio translation of "Republic of Sierra Leone" however. Sierra Leone is called Salone in Krio.

English is the dominant language of government, business and media in South Africa and is considered more politically neutral. Zulu, however, has many more speakers there and a Zulu endonym should have been included: iRiphabliki yaseNingizimu Afrika

The Maldives script was flipped when the map rendered. It should be read right-to-left like so:



The font for Bangladesh did not render properly. It should read like so:



Links

For a more detailed discussion of African names and indigenous languages, see African Country Names in Indigenous Languages at GeoCurrents.

Contact

If you've read this far and you still have questions, comments, corrections, compliments or insults, send them to [email protected].

Changelog

2013 edition changes

The world is an ever-changing place and hey, cartographers make mistakes. The 2013 edition of the Endonym Map contains the following changes and updates:

In 2012, Hungary passed a new constitution which shortened the country's name from "Republic of Hungary" to just "Hungary". The map reflects the new name in Hungarian.

The previous edition of the map showed the name of Mongolia in Mongolian script. Though the script is official, its use is considered more traditional. The Cyrillic alphabet is more widely used there, so the map now shows the name of the country in Cyrillic.

The "Channel Islands" in the English Channel have been separated into their proper names as the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

A Pacific island that was discovered to not actually exist has been removed.

The endonym of Haiti is now shown both in French and Haitian Creole. This is because French is the dominant written language, while Haitian Creole is by more commonly spoken.

Various typographic and cartographic fixes and clean up.

2014-03-08

This page now uses Leaflet to power the map, resulting in a smaller data footprint and faster load times.