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<p><font face="Verdana">This has been a long discussion reflecting
different opinions and references, some inspired by religious,
historical as political motives.<br>
A reflection of how difficult it can be on some issues like
names and boundaries, issues on which "the ground truth" as
described by OSM and our wiki proves it lacks a proper and
complete definition for these issues.<br>
The time has come to find a compromise of how to proceed and if
necessary adopt some definitions or descriptions even in the OSM
wiki to narrow or avoid these issues in the future.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">I didn't participate in the discussion so
far but read all the mails and all the reference sources listed.
So if you allow me let me try to conclude:</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">1. What key:name to use for this water body
? Our wiki states that in case of doubt "the ground truth",
meaning the habits of how to name a natural feature by the
locals should prevail. But first of all, what water body are we
talking about, the EEZ's or the international waters ? When it
comes to the international waters there are no locals. No one
lives there neither are the waters ruled or owned by any
particular country. So international waters follow the most
common name used by the international "world wide" community.
There is no better "official and authoritative" organisation to
represent the international community as the UN. So the most
recent authoritative resource gazetting the name for the
international waters should be used, being "Persian Gulf", in
the key:name in English as the international language used.
key:alt_name can be used for alternative names, used by some
minorities in the "world community", so "Arabian Gulf;Gulf of
Iran;Gulf of Basra" can be alternative names for the
international waters. The resource I refer to: "Maritime Space:
Maritime Zones and Maritime Delimitation" provided by the
Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of
Legal Affairs, United Nations
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.un.org/depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/persian_gulf.htm">https://www.un.org/depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/persian_gulf.htm</a>).</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">2. What key:name to use for the Iranian
preference ? Local preferences can be applied to the waters or
part of the water body controlled by a local authority. So for
the EEZ under Iranian jurisdiction the name should contain the
official name as gazetted by the Iranian authorities: Persian
Gulf written in Farsi. EEZ's of other countries, the Arabian
countries can use name:Arabian Gulf or others in Arabic script
for their respective EEZ's. The nodes or relations containing
these names are located in or delineated to the EEZ's of those
particular countries.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">3. Translations. All translations should be
a literal or applicable translation as the term described in the
name fields. So if I consult any translated name of the
international waters with the name "Persian Gulf" it reads
"Persian Gulf" in a local language and script. Same applies to
any translations for the alt_name field.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">4. Alternative name fields. official_name
for international water bodies are those used and gazetted by
the UN, they should be the same as the key:name so should not be
used for international waters. official_name can be used if the
name by the locals most commonly used in that EEZ is different
from the official name. old_name can be used for names used for
these water bodies (historical) from historical maps from before
the existence of the UN.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">We should not avoid anyone from changing the
name fields. Vandalism is not allowed and we as a community, the
world community should prevent and revert any vandalism, if it
continues with the help of the DWG. So any name change should be
accompanied with an appropriate reference to an authoritative
source, for international waters this should be a direct
resource or derived from the UN, for EEZ official gazetteers or
databases from a country, for old_name applicable references to
historical maps although I prefer not to store these in OSM, we
have Open Historical Map for that.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">The wiki about what "ground truth" means for
disputed or sometimes non-tangible or physically verifiable
items like names and boundaries should be improved, extended and
clarified on the wiki.<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Finally I wish to remember everyone that
there are very few "rules" in OSM, we have guidelines, "ground
truth" is a guideline not a rule, we are a free and open
community. So if anyone feels to invent another name tag to
express or clarify "disputed" names or boundaries other then a
note field, feel free but find consensus from the community
about it before you change it or start a tagging war.<br>
</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Please, Ebrahim, you brought up the issue,
summarize and conclude so we have a way forward.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Greetings,</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana">Bert Araali<br>
</font></p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 17/06/2021 22:00, Ebrahim Nejati via
talk wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:87tulwco5n.fsf@tfwno.gf">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">
Today, I saw Persian Gulf's (rel:9326283) rendering is back to Arabian
Gulf. The purpose of this message is not continuing the constant
quarrel that which one is the correct name, but to explain my point of
view.
The `name` tags of this relation had been a translation of "Persian
Gulf" in all languages except in Arabic. This is okay. Since OSM favors
the situations "on the ground", local communities can decide the name of
these regions.
It was all good until recently a vandalist felt that this is wrong and
repeatedly decided to change the `name:ar` from "Arabian Gulf" to
"Persian Gulf". We in OpenStreetMap Iran Telegram group (most active
place among Iranian mappers) discussed this issue and strongly condemned
it.
But now, after the vandalist's changesets has been reverted, the `name`
tag of "Persian Gulf" is changed to "Arabian Gulf" while it is called
"Persian Gulf" in all languages except Arabic. I'm here to ask how OSMF
or Data Working Group decides the `name` tag of such places?
---
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf</a>
- Here is Persian Gulf's Wikipedia's page where it is called Persian
Gulf in all languages but Arabic. You can also read more about this
naming dispute here.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatt_al-Arab">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatt_al-Arab</a>
- Here is Shatt al-Arab wikipedia page, which I think has the opposite
naming convention which it is called Shatt al-Arab in every language but
in Persian, where it is "Arvand Roud"
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</pre>
</blockquote>
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