Not Georgia, but Sakartvelo: why countries change their names - ForumDaily
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Not Georgia, but Sakartvelo: why countries change their names

In 2011, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found herself in a very uncomfortable situation, which she describes Air force.

Photo: Shutterstock

She arrived on an official visit to Myanmar, where for two decades a military dictatorship has ruled, which is now on the path of liberalization.

Clinton's arrival was of historical significance - it was supposed to be the beginning of a rapprochement between the two countries and testify to US support for reforms.

There was only one problem - Clinton had to be very careful not to inadvertently call it incorrectly while visiting Myanmar.

The fact is that until 1989 the country where Clinton arrived was known to the whole world as Burma. The new name of Myanmar, approved by the military regime, was considered illegitimate by the United States. And although it gradually took root in the world over time, a number of countries, including the United States, at the highest level continued to use the old name in principle.

Clinton's aides said that during this visit she faced a difficult choice: insult the host country by naming the country Burma; or move away from the US government position and call it Myanmar.

Clinton had to “extricate herself” from this situation thanks to the formulation “this country,” which she actively used instead of mentioning the name of the state.

The renaming of countries and cities sometimes creates not only curiosities at the highest political level, but also confusion for ordinary people who are not so closely following the progress of other countries changing their names.

But where for some it is confusion, for others it is the restoration of historical justice and a break with the past.

This was one of the motives for renaming Burma, which was under British control for more than 100 years. The same are the motives of other countries, many of which are still fighting to have their or their cities called what they think is right.

Not Ceylon, but Sri Lanka. But the tea is still Ceylon

The real boom in the renaming of countries occurred in the second half of the last century, when a significant number of new independent states were formed in the world, which, changing their names, said goodbye to the colonial past.

Among them is Sri Lanka, which the world has long known as the island of Ceylon since the Portuguese gave it such a name in the XNUMXth century. After that, Ceylon came under the control of the Dutch, then the British, but its name remained unchanged.

Only in the 1970s, the country was named the Republic of Sri Lanka, and a little later it became the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Similar “biographies” have dozens of countries that, after gaining independence, broke with the colonial legacy: Zimbabwe was once called Southern Rhodesia; Mali was once French Sudan; Belize was formerly called British Honduras; Burkina Faso is formerly Upper Volta.

Some countries changed their names several times: for example, Cambodia managed to be the Khmer Republic, and Democratic Kampuchea, and again Cambodia - with each renaming, the forces that came to power emphasized that they were opening a new page in history.

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Farewell to the times of colonialism did not spare the names of large cities: in 2001, Indian Kolkata became Kolkata, so that the name corresponded to the sound of the toponym in Bengali, and not in the language of the colonialists. Even earlier, Bombay was renamed Mumbai, and Madras, one of the largest cities in India, changed its name to Chennai.

True, the change of names by the countries themselves did not always mean that the whole world would forget the old ones. Even when other states officially recognized the renaming and agreed to use them in public space, people often continued to use the previous names in everyday life.

The same Myanmar, although this name is recognized by the UN and most states, for many (even within the country) is still Burma, even 30 years after the renaming.

And Ceylon tea, even after half a century since the name of the island was changed, did not begin to be called Sri Lankan, critics of the renaming are ironic.

Sakartvelo genatsvale

The desire to restore historical justice and a symbolic break with the past did not pass by the former republics of the USSR.

In January 2021, Lithuania approved the new name of Georgia, which is now used in official documents - Sakartvelo. This is what Georgians themselves call their country.

In the world, the country is called predominantly either Russian Georgia, or Latin Georgia (Georgia or Georgia). And if Georgians do not have any special complaints about the Latin variation, which has become entrenched in most foreign languages, then they do have a problem with Russian, which is widespread primarily in Eastern Europe and some Asian countries.

The country associates the name Georgia with the years of enslavement within the Russian Empire and the USSR. That is why local authorities have been urging other countries to stop using this name for a long time.

Meanwhile, Belarusians have been arguing with Russia for almost 30 years, which continues to call their country not Belarus, on which they themselves insist, but Belarus.

When Lithuania agreed to legalize the new name of Georgia, it turned out that the Belarusians also have certain claims to the Lithuanians. The leader of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya suggested that the Lithuanian authorities use the name Belarusià to designate Belarus, and not Baltarùsija, as it is now.

According to Tikhanovskaya, the current Lithuanian name of her country is perceived as a copy of the Russian language, which leads to a mistaken association with Russia.

From time to time, Kyrgyz people also join the fight for the correct names, who do not like the fact that their country, which after the collapse of the USSR was called Kyrgyzstan, continues to be called Kyrgyzstan in the Russian Federation - critics again see this as following imperial traditions.

The Russians have only one answer for the Kyrgyz, Belarusians, and Moldovans (they also don’t like the Russian name Moldova, whereas Moldova is correct): these, they say, are the rules of the Russian language.

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Ukraine

Although Ukraine did not have to radically change its name after gaining independence, it had a chance to argue with the world over the article the, which many politicians and leaders from English-speaking countries like to add to Ukraine.

In this, critics see the connotation of the perception of Ukraine as a part of Russia, and not as a separate state. Indeed, in English, they say, the article is usually used to denote regions or territories, but relatively independent countries, as a rule, are not used).

Google Books statistics show that the Ukraine form was indeed popular in English-language sources for many decades, but over time it still began to give way to Ukraine.

The Ukraine, however, is still often heard even from top-level Western politicians, including the US President.

When a scandal broke out in 2019 over a recording of a conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, and the word “Ukraine” was constantly heard in the American media, the Ukrainian embassy in the United States reminded its Western readers on social networks: “Ukraine, not the Ukraine.”

They also drew attention to the Kyiv not Kiev initiative, urging international media and companies to switch to the transliteration of the name of their capital officially adopted by Ukraine.

Not New Zealand, but Authearua

It also happens that countries are thinking about renaming, but the matter does not come to concrete decisions.

In New Zealand, there has been a public debate for several years about abandoning the European name and approving a new one - Autearua. This is how the country sounds in the language of the Maori, the local indigenous population.

The word "Autearua" means "land of the long white cloud", it has long been in common use in New Zealand and is well known to all its inhabitants as an alternative name for the country.

Proponents of the renaming believe that the new name would be more historically fair and would also emphasize the uniqueness of the country. They propose not only changing the name of the state, but also renaming the large cities of Wellington and Christchurch. They want to call the first To Whanganui-a-Tara, the second - Utautahi.

Critics say the name Outerua may not be so unifying for today's multicultural New Zealand society. In addition, historically, it concerns only one of the regions of the country, and not its entire territory.

But in addition to historical and political arguments, those who advise not to rush into renaming have another one - financial. According to their estimates, if we calculate all the country's expenses that will result from the name change, it will amount to a considerable amount: approximately $1 billion.

When you don't want to, but you need to

Renaming countries is not always the result of a strong desire to take such a step - just ask North Macedonia, which not so long ago was simply Macedonia.

If for other states a name change usually becomes a way to assert their understanding of historical justice, for the Macedonians, on the contrary, the renaming meant giving up their principles.

For almost 30 years, the Macedonians argued for the right to be called Macedonia with Greece, which includes the region of the same name.

Perhaps the dispute would have lasted forever if Greece did not have an effective leverage on its neighbors: the country blocked Macedonia's aspirations to join NATO and the EU.

In the end, the countries managed to reach a compromise - two years ago Macedonia was renamed North Macedonia (Severna Macedonija).

And although the dispute was resolved at the governmental level, not everyone among the residents of both countries is satisfied with this result.

Thousands of protests against the new name took place on both sides of the Greek-Macedonian border: the Macedonians were not happy that the word “Northern” would appear in the name of their country, and the Greeks were not happy that “Macedonia” would remain there.

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Don't confuse us please

Getting lost in the variety of new country names is not so difficult. And sometimes states are renamed precisely to avoid confusion. But this, perhaps, confuses foreigners even more.

So in 2018, the African country of Swaziland disappeared from the political map of the world, which the local king decided to rename.

Why? Because Swaziland was too reminiscent of Switzerland, that is, the English name for Switzerland.

“Every time we go abroad, people think that we are from Switzerland,” the country’s ruler, Mswati III, was indignant.

But when you are a king, it is not difficult to solve such a problem: Swaziland is no more, now it is Eswatini.

who is next

Perhaps the Philippines. At least in 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte said he was considering such a possibility.

The island country could become the Republic of Maharlik.

The reasons for the potential name change are the same as in most other states that went for renaming - parting with the colonial past.

“The name of our country was given by Magellan, whose journey was paid for by the Spanish King Philip. That’s why this fool called it the Philippines,” Duterte said. “These sons of bitches came here and killed us enslaved people.” So for 400 years our Malay roots slowly disappeared. But it’s okay, someday we will change this.”

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