[OSM-talk] Baghdad maps

[Paul Stimpson]

Hi,

Greetings from Baghdad. 

I've asked one of our translators about the availability of old out-of-copyright maps. He says that (in common with most commodities in the region) there is a market  in the city that specializes in maps and that out-of-copyright maps can most probably be found there. Such a shopping trip would, however, be resource-hungry and dangerous.

There are a number of other issues that IMHO merit discussion. I am informed that any road may have up to 4 names (which may be the same or different):

    1) The pre-Saddam name
    2) The Saddam-era name.
    3) The "public" name - What the people who live there call it.
    4) The "Official" name - What the new Government calls it.

This situation is further complicated by language and social issues:

    Language
        1) The roads are names in Arabic.
        2) There is no fixed translation between the Arabic and Latin alphabets.

    Social Issues:
        1) Sunnis tend to use the Saddam-era names
        2) Shia tend to rename streets and won't acknowledge Saddam-era names.
        3) Ethnic cleansing is changing the neighbourhoods and hence the names.
        4) Names (such as 14th July Bridge) will change later.


My translator's opinion is that street names are going to take at least 2-3 years to settle down.

I'm happy to contribute what I can to the effort but I'm not Arabic-speaking. Which alphabet (or both) should be used? What can be done to minimise any ethnic statement caused by the choice of which street name is chosen?

All the best,
Paul.
 

 
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