[OSM-talk] Persian/Arabian Gulf Tagging

[Niels Elgaard Larsen]

På Thu, 9 Dec 2021 14:46:57 +0300
Mostafa Ahangarha <ahangarha at riseup.net> skrev:
>On 12/9/21 2:08 PM, Christoph Hormann wrote:
>> If there is a verifiable local name and what that name is, is the
>> subject to decide on.  This question requires familiarity with and
>> local knowledge of the region.  People from Europe and North America
>> who 'know' what the name is only from their TV news and newspapers
>> are not qualified to answer that question.
>>   
>
>The point is that this gulf is much more that something to be claimed
>by its neighboring countries. Legally, countries have claim on certain 
>depth of it as their territory and beyond that is international water. 
>Who can name this international water? By referring to International 
>name I don't necessarily mean people (who get these info not just from 
>TV but also text book and other sources, indicting that this is the 
>common name used there) but also in formal sphere.


Yes, exactly.

For example the North Sea is called Vesterhavet (The West Sea) here in
Denmark. 
Historically the Dutch named it Nordzee. And we Danes just have to
accept that the dutch name stuck internationally.

Now that I look it up, I see that in french OSM have it as "Mer
Germanique" whereas in fr.Wikipedia it is  "Mer du Nord". But I will
leave that to native french speaking contributors.



>There has been different reasons historically why a certain name is 
>chosen for a given place. We cannot close our eyes and overnight come 
>and change that name.
>
>This Gulf historically was called Persian Gulf. We can even find its 
>trace in some of formal documents in the region. And even today, this 
>gulf is called Persian Gulf internationally. Sure we can find Arabian 
>gulf as well but in terms of number and ratio I don't think one can
>make a reasonable comparison.
>
>So if this water body, historically and internationally has a common 
>name, who is there to change this name? How can we come and ask 
>everybody to call it something else? How can I wipe history like this? 
>This water body doesn't belong to any of its neighboring countries so 
>that decision for its name should come from what the international 
>society determine.
>