United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names

Working Groups   Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage

Working Group on Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage


Convenor

Annette Torensjö (Sweden), E-mail annette.torensjo@isof.se

Rapporteur

Leila Mattfolk, E-mail leila.mattfolk@isof.se

Background

The Working Group was established in order to address Resolution 1 of the Eighth Conference (Berlin, 2002) as a Working Group on the Promotion of Indigenous and Minority Group Place Names, with the aim to oversee activities relating to the promotion of indigenous and minority geographical names as means of cultural retention/revitalization.

The mandate of the Working Group was extended as a result of resolution 5 of the Ninth Conference (New York, 2007) to cover guidelines for field collection, gathering of models for promotion of these names and opening dialogue with other groups involved in this work.

The name of the WG was changed at a side meeting at the 27th Session in New York, 2012.


Work plan
  • to set up focus groups in order to be able to allocate tasks to the different experts within the WG.
  • to continue to build up this website (or in another location), to publish documents prepared by the WG, and to put forward examples of good naming practices. The WG will also make guidelines available, e.g., regarding commemorative naming. The convenor of the WG invites experts to contribute good and useful examples.
  • to update the maps made during the initial years of the Working group (see Results up to 2011 below), as long as data are provided. It would be important to get names used in endangered languages noted on the maps.
    • Best practices regarding good naming custom
  • The convenor of the WG invites experts to contribute good and useful examples.
  • Good Place-Name Practice. The Swedish Place-Names Advisory Board's Guide to the Standardization and Preservation of Place-Names. (English translation of the 2016 edition) https://www.lantmateriet.se/en/maps-and-geographic-information/Ortnamn/Skriftserien/
  • Principles and procedures for geographical naming (2011), Geographical Names Board of Canada https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/pdf/gnames/GNBC_english_accessible.pdf
  • Commemorative naming practices in Finland https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/2.Finland_Onkamo_doc.pdf
  • Naming rules for places in Victoria (Australia) - 2016 https://www.propertyandlandtitles.vic.gov.au/naming-places-features-and-roads/naming-rules-for-places-in-victoria
  • Principles for commemorative names and commercial and business names in Victoria (Australia)
    • Meetings
    Minutes of Working Group meeting in New York, May 3, 2019 - pdf, word
    Minutes of Working Group meeting in New York, August 15, 2017 - pdf, word
    Minutes of Working Group meeting in Bangkok, April 29, 2016 - pdf, word
    Results up to 2011

    A systematic reporting procedure was prepared to allow countries that so wished to contribute information on their indigenous and minority group name programmes in time for the Ninth Conference in 2007. Results of this work can be viewed as:

      Report of the UNGEGN Working Group on the Promotion of Indigenous and Minority Group Names, E/CONF.98/42
      Summary: Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish
      Add. 1: Report (English), version 1 (including a few examples)
      Add. 2: Summary Report on Indigenous and Minority Group Place Names Projects and Initiatives, Edition 1 (full version)

    Updates will periodically be made to the report and these will be made available here.

    Forms for submission of data to the WG Convenor (formats: Excel, Word or pdf)

    Earlier documents (prior to August 2007)
    UNGEGN Information Bulletin 33, March 2007
    UNGEGN 2006, Working Paper no. 102
    UNGEGN Newsletter 29, January 2005
    Questionnaire on minority group and indigenous geographical names

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