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.
Myanmar/Burma
-- present government calls it Myanmar, though most
countries still use Burma. Capital(s) are Yangon (Rangoon) and
Nay Pyi Taw (admin. cap.)
Independence vote passed and ratified by
Indonesia.
2. Country and City Name Changes:
The capital of Guam, Agana, is now also called by its Chamorro name,
Hagåtña
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
Almaty, Kazakstan; capital then moved to
Akmola, Kazakstan renamed
Astana, Kazakhstan (note H reinstated!)
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]
Reversion to local authority in Wales and Scotland, 1996-1998
Abolition of Avon, Hereford, Worcester, Berkshire, and others
Russia: Seven new "super-regions"
Central Region. This region includes Moscow, its suburbs and
a handful of smaller nearby cities in the heartland of European
Russia. (Capital: Moscow)
Northwestern Region. This region includes St Petersburg, the
Arctic ports Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, as well as the outlying Baltic
enclave Kaliningrad. (Capital: St. Petersburg)
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)
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)
Urals Region. The resource-rich region of the Ural mountains.
(Capital: Yekaterinburg)
Siberia Region. The vast, resource-rich region of Siberia.
(Capital: Novosibirsk)
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:
