1. US BGN, September 20021 United States Board on Geographic Names (US BGN)

2. US BGN, September 20022 US Board on Geographic Names Founded in 1890 Secretary of the InteriorUS Board on Geographic Names Advisory Committee on Undersea Features Foreign Names Committee Domestic Names Committee Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names CONJOINT RESPONSIBILITY The present briefing covers principles, policies, and procedures implemented by the BGN Foreign Names Committee.

3. US BGN, September 20023 Roles and Responsibilities: US BGN Foreign Names Activities §US BGN Foreign Names Committee (FNC) l Decides standardization policy l Decides standard and conventional names of: countries their principal administrative divisions their capital cities international features high seas features other features of significance

4. US BGN, September 20024 History and Background: The FPNF Official Standard name Geopolitical Area Code Name as found on source romanization Cross reference flag Quality Control Review File sequence number

5. US BGN, September 20025 Geographic Names Data Base: Scope §Geographic features outside of US territory l Physical, cultural, undersea l Large-scale map series equivalency l Generally excludes: urban features, street numbered routes map information __GNIS “Geographic Names Information System” BGN’s domestic names data base Maintained by US Geological Survey Interested in Domestic US Geographic Names?

6. US BGN, September 20026 http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp

7. US BGN, September 20027 Geographic Names Data Base Content: §Contains records with l Full name (as it would appear in a gazetteer listing) l Short-form name (if required by FNC policy) l Name type (native, conventional, variant, “daggered”) l Generic term (if present) l Language code l Gazetteer code (suppresses entry in gazetteer output) l Region code (identifies regional font) l Unique Name Identifier (UNI) l Sort name (all upper case; diacritics and spaces removed)

8. US BGN, September 20028

9. 9 US BGN Foreign Names Decision Process §Toponymic event occurs. §FNC staff conduct investigative research, gather supporting evidence, prepare recommendation. §Recommendations regarding joint BGN/PCGN policy are coordinated. §Draft recommendations are distributed to FNC members and associates for review and comment. §FNC staff present recommendations at quarterly FNC meetings. §Discussion and voting.

10. US BGN, September 200210 Toponymic Standardization: Principles, Policies and Procedures §General principles l Local official usage l One name for one feature l Use of Roman script, including diacritical marks and special characters l Use of scientifically developed romanization systems in areas where a non-Roman writing system is official l Conventional names

11. US BGN, September 200211 General Principles §Local official usage l adoption as official standard names those names promulgated by the designated local official authority, e.g., a national names authority, national mapping authority, etc. Definition: an official standard name is the name spelling adopted by the US BGN for official use.

12. US BGN, September 200212 STANAG 3689 §NATO Standardization Agreement “Place Name Spelling on Maps and Charts” Edition 3 §Aim: “… to standardize the method of spelling place names in the mapping and charting of areas of interest to NATO …”

13. US BGN, September 200213 Area-Specific Policies and Procedures §Staff country policies l Linguistic policy Languages Orthographies Romanization Unique situations l Politico-geographic policy Country names Principal administrative divisions Unique situations

14. US BGN, September 200214 Conclusions and Discussion