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Google and Disputed Place Names
How does a global mapping provider like Google deal with disputed map names? (Think, for example, of Iran’s campaign in favour of the Persian Gulf instead of the Arabian Gulf, or South Korea’s on behalf of the East Sea instead of the Sea of Japan.) A national map can pick sides, but an internationally available website or application (i.e., Google Earth) can’t help but get into trouble from one side or the other.
Google’s Director of Global Public Policy, Andrew McLaughlin, explains in a must-read post on Google’s Public Policy Blog how Google manages to find a balance, at least insofar as contested names for bodies of water are concerned. The policy they’ve implemented is called Primary Local Usage.
Under this policy, the English Google Earth client displays the primary, common, local name(s) given to a body of water by the sovereign nations that border it. If all bordering countries agree on the name, then the common single name is displayed (e.g. “Caribbean Sea” in English, “Mar Caribe” in Spanish, etc.). But if different countries dispute the proper name for a body of water, our policy is to display both names, with each label placed closer to the country or countries that use it. …
For language clients other than English, we display only the preferred name in the relevant language. For example, the Japanese client of Google Earth shows “Sea of Japan” in Japanese (日本海), while the Korean version shows “East Sea” in Korean (동해). In these cases, we still include both labels in the click-box political annotation. We believe this solution makes our product more helpful to users in each language by presenting the name they expect to see, but without sidestepping the existence of a disputed alternative name. In that way, we provide more, rather than less, information while maintaining a good user interface and experience.
McLaughlin also outlines some alternatives not taken, such as adopting the recommendations of international organizations or academics, and explains why they weren’t adopted.
Via Ogle Earth.
Previously: Custom Globes and Contested Geographies; Sea of Japan, East Sea, Sea of Korea; Review: From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow.
“Think, for example, of Iran’s campaign in favour of the Persian Gulf instead of the Arabian Gulf”
The internationally recognized name IS Persian Gulf. The campaign to change the name is from Arab states to change it FROM “Persian Gulf” TO the “Arabian Gulf,” not the other way around. Strange this site got that wrong.
I didn’t get it wrong. It’s a fact that Iran has a campaign to recognize the Persian Gulf. I wasn’t aware that it was in response to a campaign from the Arab states, and the fact that the internationally recognized name is the Persian Gulf does not negate the existence of Iran’s campaign, links to which I’ve been seeing for years.
Snarking at your host. Tsk.
It wouldn’t take much- just look through old atlases and such- The Gulf has for centuries been called “The Persian Gulf.” The Iranians are making a stink about it because since the sixties the Arab States have been trying to change it to the Arabian gulf. What you are reading about is a retaliatory PR campaign by Iran in the face of the more quiet (they try to go behind the scenes and convince publishers and cartographers, usually with large sums of money) campaign by Arab states. But don’t take my word for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Gulf
Not trying to be snarky, just trying to get the record straight. You should be well aware that this body has only been recently referred to as the Arabian Gulf, and usually only by people who have a bone to pick with their ethnically different neighbors.
Actually MA Healy is right.
Google can’t just agree to give any local name to any body of water with an international boundary. Should Google also allow “Arvand Rood” to be an alternate name to the Shatt al-Arab waterway? No, because it is not internationally recognized and nobody outside of Iran calls it Arvand.
People can’t just decide to create an alternate name for a prominent body of water. What if us Canadians decided to rename Gulf of Alaska to “Gulf of British Columbia” or something stupid like that, would you be OK with its alternate name?