Country and City Name Changes Since 1990

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Mapping.com's list of Worldwide Country and City Name Changes Since 1990

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Name Changes Since 1990: Countries, Cities, and More

An admittedly incomplete and imperfect list of new countries and cities, and various name changes

Search For Cities and Countries Not Listed Here:

1. "New" Countries Since 1990
- FORMER USSR:
- FORMER YUGOSLAVIA:
  - Slovenia
  - Croatia [See List of New Province Names Below]
  - Bosnia and Herzegovina
  - Serbia and Montenegro
    Serbia [Belgrade], Montenegro [Podgorica].
    After the breakup of Yugoslavia, these two republics joined in a loose confederation first called Yugoslavia and later called Serbia-and-Montenegro. On May 21, 2006, Montenegro held a referendum on independence, and on June 3, 2006 the Parliament of Montenegro declared the country independent
    On 17 February 2008, the Serbian province of Kosovo declared itself independent.
  - Republic of Macedonia (also known as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
- FORMER CZECHOSLOVAKIA:
  - Czech Republic [See List of New Province Names Below]
  - Slovakia
- Eritrea (Former Red Sea Province of Ethiopia)
- Germany (cap. Berlin)
- Yemen (from uniting Yemen and South Yemen)
- From The U.S. Pacific Trust Territory
  - Marshall Islands
    - For Info on specific Islands/Atolls, click here
  - Palau (new capital Melekeok)
  - Federated States of Micronesia
    - The States:
- Namibia (from S. Africa)
- Kampuchea changed to Cambodia
- Myanmar/Burma -- present government calls it Myanmar,
  though most countries still use Burma.
  Capital(s) are Yangon (Rangoon) and Nay Pyi Taw (admin. cap.)
- East Timor (Dili)
  - Independence vote passed and ratified by Indonesia.
2. Country and City Name Changes:
- The city name of Pretoria, South Africa changed 26 May 2005 to: Tshwane.
  It is the name of a pre-colonial local chief. The word means "we are the same"
- New Territory of Canada: Nunavut (cap: Iqaluit)
- Many long-form changes, such as:
  - Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
  - The two Congos now known as:
    - Dem. Rep. of The Congo (cap: Kinshasa)
      - New Provincial Names:
        
        Maniema
        Nord-Kivu
        Sud-Kivu
        Bas-Congo (form. Bas-Zaire)
        Equateur
        Orientale (form. Haut-Zaire)
        Kasai-Occidental
        Kasai-Oriental
        Katanga (form. Shaba)
    - Republic of Congo (cap: Brazzaville)
- Greenland to Kalaallit Nunaat (cap: Nuuk [Danish: Godthab])
- Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan renamed
- Republic of Fiji to Republic of the Fiji Islands
- [In the works: Republic of the Solomon Islands to Republic of the Solomons]
- Western Samoa to (Independent State of) Samoa
- Special Administrative Regions of China:
  - Hong Kong is now semi-autonomous, and exists pursuant to international
    agreement and maintains its own government apart from the People's
    Republic of China (PRC). The U.S. Board on Geographic Names has
    approved the names Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
    or Hong Kong (S.A.R.).
  - Macao (Macau) is also semi-autonomous, with approved names
    Macao, Macao Special Administrative Region, or Macao (S.A.R.)
- New Provinces within Poland
  - Dolnoslaskie
  - Kujawsko-Pomorskie
  - Lodzkie
  - Lubelskie
  - Lubuskie
  - Malopolskie
  - Mazowieckie
  - Opolskie
  - Podkarpackie
  - Podlaskie
  - Pomorskie
  - Slaskie
  - Swietokryzskie
  - Warminsko-Mazurskie
  - Wielkopolskie
  - Zachodniopomorskie
- New Provinces Within Czech Reublic
  - Hlavni Mesto Praha * [Capital City Prague]
  - Brnensky Kraj
  - Budejovicky Kraj
  - Jihlavsky Kraj
  - Karlovarsky Kraj
  - Kralovehradecky Kraj
  - Liberecky Kraj
  - Olomoucky Kraj
  - Ostravsky Kraj
  - Pardubicky Kraj
  - Plzensky Kraj
  - Stredocesky Kraj
  - Ustecky Kraj
  - Zlinsky Kraj
- Regions (iqlim) Within Sudan Replaced By Provinces (wilayat):
  - A?ali an Nil
  - Al Bahr al Ahmar
  - Al Buhayrat
  - Al Jazirah
  - Al Khartum
  - Al Qadarif
  - Al Wahdah
  - An Nil al Abyad
  - An Nil al Azraq
  - Ash Shamaliyah
  - Bahr al Jabal
  - Gharb al Istiwa?iyah
  - Gharb Bahr al Ghazal
  - Gharb Darfur
  - Gharb Kurdufan
  - Janub Darfur
  - Janub Kurdufan
  - Junqali
  - Kassala
  - Nahr an Nil
  - Shamal Bahr al Ghazal
  - Shamal Darfur
  - Shamal Kurdufan
  - Sharq al Istiwa?iyah
  - Sinnar
  - Warab
- New Counties [supanija] within Croatia
  - Grad Zagreb [Capital City]
  - Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska
  - Brodsko-Posavska
  - Dubrovacko-Neretvanska
  - Istarska
  - Karlovacka
  - Koprivnicko-Krizevacka
  - Krapinsko-Zagorska
  - Licko-Senjska
  - Medimurska
  - Osjecko-Baranjska
  - Pozesko-Slavonska
  - Primorsko-Goranska
  - Sibensko-Kninska
  - Sisacko-Moslavacka
  - Splitsko-Dalmatinska
  - Varazdinska
  - Viroviticko-Podravska
  - Vukovarsko-Srijemska
  - Zadarska
  - Zagrebacka
- New Divisions of Bangladesh
  - Chittagong
  - Dhaka
  - Khulna
  - Rajshahi
3. New Capital Cities, or New Spellings:
- Tanzania
  - Dar es Salaam - administrative
  - Dodoma - legislative
- Cote D'Ivoire -- Yamoussoukro
- Nigeria -- Abuja
- Swaziland
  - M'babane administrative
  - Lobamba -- legislative
- Mongolia -- Ulaanbaatar (Not really new sp; more correct local form)
- India Place Names:
  - India widely known as Bharat (local-language name)
  - Calcutta to Kolkata
  - Madras to Chennai
  - Bombay to Mumbai
  - Bangalore to Koramangala
  - Calicut to Kozhikode
  - Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram
  - State of West Bengal to Bangla
  - The Delhi area is being divided into 4 new states and a Capital
    Territory; Uttaranchal appears closest to emerging. States of
    Bihar and Madhya Pradesh must vote concerning Vananchal and
    Chattisgarh, and Delhi State requires a constitutional change:
    - UTTARANCHAL (also known as Uttarakhand) Capital: Nainital
    - VANANCHAL (also known as Jharkhand) Capital: Ranchi
      - This new State carved from a section of Bihar
    - CHATTISGARH Capital: Raipur
      - This new State carved from a section of Madhya Pradesh
    - DELHI Capital: Delhi
    - NCT: Natl Capital Territory
    Places where strong self-determination efforts may result in new states:
    - Bodoland in Assam
    - Bundelkhand (UP & MP)
    - Gorkhaland (West Bengal)
    - Harit Pradesh (UP)
    - Kodagu (Karnataka)
    - Telangana (Andhra)
    - Vidarbha (Maharashtra)
    - Vindhyanchal (MP)
- South Africa's New Provinces:
  - Eastern Cape
  - Free State
  - Gauteng
  - Kwazulu Natal
  - Mpumalanga
  - Limpopo Province (formerly Northern Province)
  - North-West
  - Northern Cape
  - Western Cape
4. The Next Forthcoming Countries?
Places on the verge of self-determination.
- Somaliland (cap. Hargeisa)(from Somalia)
  - decl. Ind. 1991; unrecognized
- Sahrawi Rep. (Western Sahara) (cap. Laayoune or El Aaiun)
  - (Morocco refers to it as their Southern Province)
  - U.N. referendum planned but not scheduled
- Palestine (Israel)
  - Parts of Gaza and West Bank are under Palestinian
    Authority. Final status still under negotiation between Israel and
    Palestine National Authority.
- Nargorno-Karabakh (Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan)
  - The Republic of Mountainous Karabagh (also known in the U.S. as Nagorno Karabagh Republic)
  - Attached to Azerbaijan by Stalin in 1921
  - Declared itself independent of Azerbaijan in 1991 as the
    Republic of Mountainous Karabagh by near-unanimous popular referendum
  - Democratically elected president since 1994.
5.A Sampling of Regions/Nations With Strong Independence Movements,
Many Approaching Self-Determination:
- Abkhazia (Georgia), Chechnya (Russian Republic)
- Asturias, Galicia, Leon, Catalunya, Cantabria, Aragon (Spain)
- Euskadi [Basque Country] (Fr and Sp)
- Breizh [Bretagne], Savoie (France)
- Corsica (France)
- Tahiti/Fr. Polynesia (France)
- Vlaanderen [Flanders] (Belgium)
- Wallonie [Wallonia] (Belgium)
- Ausonia (Southern Italy)
- Padania (Northern Italy)
- Azores (Portugal)
- Bavaria (Germany)
- Cymru [Wales], Ulster, Scotland (UK) [Occasional separatist activity also in Cornwall]
- Saami [Samiland] (Northern Scandinavia & NW Russia)
- Kosovo, Vojvodina (Serbia)
- Montenegro (Fed. Rep. Of Yugo.)
- Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria)
- Anjouan Island (Comoros)
- Bougainville (PNG)
- Kanak Nation (New Caledonia)
- Karen (Myanmar)
- Kashmir (India)
- Okinawa/Rep. of the Ryukyus (Japan)
- Republik Maluku (Indonesia's Moluccas)
- West Papua (Indonesia)
- Aceh [NW Sumatra] (Indonesia)
- Tamil Elam (Sri Lanka)
- Tibet (China)
- Uyghuristan/E. Turkistan/Xinjiang (China)
- Pampas (Brazil)
- Puerto Rico (US)
- Hawai'i (US)
- Quebec (Canada)
- Nevis (St. Kitts and Nevis)
- Nuevo Leon, Chiapas (Mexico)
6. Other Notes:
- United Kingdom: Far-reaching revisions
  - Reversion to local authority in Wales and Scotland, 1996-1998
  - Abolition of Avon, Hereford, Worcester, Berkshire, and others
- Russia: Seven new "super-regions"
  1. Central Region. This region includes Moscow, its suburbs and a
    handful of smaller nearby cities in the heartland of European Russia.
    (Capital: Moscow)
  2. Northwestern Region. This region includes St Petersburg, the
    Arctic ports Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, as well as the outlying Baltic
    enclave Kaliningrad. (Capital: St. Petersburg)
  3. Volga Region. This region surrounds the Volga river and the north
    coast of the Caspian Sea. It includes many of Russia's ethnic
    semi-autonomous republics, including oil-rich Tatarstan and
    Bashkortostan.(Capital: Nizhny Novgorod)
  4. North Caucasus. This region includes breakaway Chechnya, the
    Caucasus mountains, Europe's highest range, and the wide steppes
    beneath their northern slopes. (Capital: Rostov-on-Don)
  5. Urals Region. The resource-rich region of the Ural mountains.
    (Capital: Yekaterinburg)
  6. Siberia Region. The vast, resource-rich region of Siberia.
    (Capital: Novosibirsk)
  7. Far East. This region includes the Pacific coast, Sakhalin
    Island, the Kamchatka peninsula, the huge, diamond-rich ethnic
    republic of Yakutia, the port of Vladivostok and the remote
    Arctic north. (Capital: Khabarovsk)
7. The Name Of The Highest Mountain In The World
- Authorities accept many different names for the world's highest mountain; the name Everest was given to the mountain in 1865 by the British, in honour of Sir George Everest who was then Surveyor-General in the Survey of India. He mapped and measured the peak in 1852. But China claims the peak was first mapped in 1717 by Tibetan officials during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. In those early records, the mountain was called Qomolangma (pron. Chomolungma), its Tibetan name. Here are links to various authorities:

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For more information,
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