Place names and the PCGN

This afternoon Professor David Munro gave a presentation to the Collins Geo staff on the work of The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN).

Professor Munro who is Chairman of the PCGN explained the intricacies of naming places around the world and illustrated how they are influenced by local culture, perception, language, scripts, sovereignty, politics, transcription and application.

Some examples used:
Milan (English form) = Milano (Italian) = Mailand (German) - language variants.
Bombay (Portuguese origin) is now known as Mumbai - a completely new Hindu related name.
Tsaritsyn changed to Stalingrad then changed to Volgograd – political change.
Hot Springs was renamed Truth or Consequences (New Mexico, USA) – after a popular radio program in 1950.
Bukhara (Russian Cyrillic, romanized) = Bukhoro (Uzbek Cyrillic, romanized) = Buxoro (Uzbek Roman) – transliteration and orthographic variants.
Nome (Alaska) - was apparently named as a result of a spelling error. In the 1850's an officer on a British ship off the coast of Alaska noted on a manuscript map that a nearby prominent point was not identified and wrote "? Name" next to the point. When the map was recopied, a cartographer in the Admiralty misread the comment and christened the feature "Cape Nome".

He then explained that the PCGN is an independent inter-departmental body whose principal function is to advise the British government on policies and procedures for the proper writing of geographical names for places and features outside the United Kingdom (excluding those of the Antarctic).

The PCGN works closely with The United States Board on Geographic Names and liaises with the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names.

Professor Munro sits on our internal Policy Committee as an advisor on name forms for our maps, atlases and digital data products.

See also Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau