Jump to content

Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (geographic names)/Archives/2013/April

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Chilean regions and provinces

I've long seen articles of provinces and regions of Chile here in Wikipedia this way: X Region / Y Province; Aysén Region, Libertador O'Higgins Region, Cardenal Caro Province, Arica Province, etc., etc.

However, I've long seen articles of provinces and regions of Spain (by example) here in Wikipedia this way: Region of X / Province of Y; Province of Barcelona, Province of Girona, etc.

I think the Chilean articles should be moved according to the Spain articles. Why? By law, Chilean regions are, in Spanish, named this way (copied verbatim):

  • I Región: Región de Tarapacá.
  • II Región: Región de Antofagasta.
  • III Región: Región de Atacama.
  • IV Región: Región de Coquimbo.
  • V Región: Región de Valparaíso.
  • VI Región: Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins.
  • VII Región: Región del Maule.
  • VIII Región: Región del Bío-Bío.
  • IX Región: Región de la Araucanía.
  • X Región: Región de Los Lagos.
  • XI Región: Región Aysen del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.
  • XII Región: Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena.
  • La Región Metropolitana se denominará "Región Metropolitana de Santiago".

Two other regions were created in later years, these being:

  • XIV Región: Región de Los Ríos.
  • XV Región: Región de Arica y Parinacota

In English, those would be, excluding the Roman numerals:

  • Region of Tarapacá
  • Region of Antofagasta
  • Region of Atacama
  • Region of Coquimbo
  • Region of Valparaíso
  • Region of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins (otherwise Region of O'Higgins)
  • Region of the Maule
  • Region of the Bío-Bío (otherwise Region of the Biobío or Bío Bío)
  • Region of the Araucanía (or Region of La Araucanía)
  • Region of Los Lagos
  • Region of Aysén (otherwise: Aysén Region of General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo; Region of Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo)
  • Region of Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena (Region of Magallanes and the Antártica Chilena; Region of Magellan and the Chilean Antarctic)
  • Region of Los Ríos
  • Region of Arica y Parinacota (or Region of Arica and Parinacota)

Chilean provinces are a lot, however, I'll mention only the three of O'Higgins Region. As it can be observed in this document produced by the National Statistics Institute, the provinces are:

  • Provincia de Cachapoal
  • Provincia de Colchagua
  • Provincia de Cardenal Caro

The correct would be to translate them as:

  • Province of Cachapoal
  • Province of Colchagua
  • Province of Cardenal Caro

Unlike what we have been doing ever since the articles were created. Nor the provinces nor the regions are called, by example, Provincia Cachapoal.

The usage of "province of" and "region of" for Chilean administrative divisions is wide, even on the internet. For example, for the region of Los Ríos: [1]; in books: [2] [3]

I would do this by myself, but instead of doing it unilaterally, I'd like some thoughts from you all. Lester Foster (talk | talk) 22:08, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

The most compelling part of what you say is the part about the usage you advocate being widespread. But the real question that should be asked is: what do reliable sources in English use most commonly to refer to the places? The answer to that is what we should use in these titles. So that's the case that needs to be made - not one based on official or legal names (which often are not most commonly used in reliable sources). --Born2cycle (talk) 00:59, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
For a reason I decided to add only one web source and two book sources for the "Region of Los Ríos". It might be true that, while most news sources use the "X Region" form, the "Region of X" for is used a lot too in books and news outlets. (Books are generally considered reliable sources, aren't they?)

Here are some:

And there are a lot other references for the other regions and provinces. As I pointed out before, it might be true that most sources use the "X Region" form, but the "Region of"/"Province of" form wouldn't be wrong at all, and would be consistent with the Spanish language use. Cheers, Lester Foster (talk | talk) 02:15, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Estimado Señor Foster/Grez:
neither the English language nor the English Wikipedia is regulated by Chilean laws. Place names in the English Wikipedia follow the English language.
  • 1) The English language is flexible in word order, in use of prepositions, articles and casing.
    • 1a) I am from (the) X Region. (e.g. I am from Washington County)
    • 1b) I am from (the) X region. (e.g. I am from the Appalachian region)
    • 1c) I am from the Region of X. (e.g. I am from the County of Lincoln)
    • 1d) I am from the region of X. (County of Maui)
    • 1e) I am from (the) Region X. (County Mayo)
    • 1f) I am from (the) region X. (?)
  • 2) For English language texts various style guides exist.
    • 2a) The Wikipedia article lists under #Journalism the AP Stylebook and under #General publishing The Chicago Manual of Style. Both make different decisions, e.g. APS recommends 1b) over 1a), CMoS 1a) over 1b).
    • 2b) There is also a Wikipedia guideline at Wikipedia:Manual of Style, it contains the following: "MOS presents Wikipedia's house style, to help editors produce articles with consistent, clear, and precise language, layout, and formatting. The goal is to make the encyclopedia easier and more intuitive to use. Consistency in language, style, and formatting promotes clarity and cohesion." - Emphasis mine.
  • 3) The Spanish language is less flexible in word order.
    • 3a) Soy de (la) Provínca de X.
    • 3b) Soy de (la) provínca de X.
    • 3c) Soy del Estado X. (Venezuela)
    • 3d) Soy del estado X. (Venezuela)
  • 4) In the English language, the naming of geographic items that are located in Spanish-speaking countries is not a task of only word by word translation. If it would be only a word by word translation, River Plate would not exist since "Río de la Plata" would be "River of the Silver".
  • 5) From 1) and 4) follows flexibility. From 2) follows restriction.
    • 5a) Flexibility: Wikipedia editors have analyzed the options. (e.g. "Tarapacá Region" and "Tarapacá region" are found in 20th century books.)
    • 5b) Restriction: Wikipedia editors have chosen X Region (e.g. Tarapacá Region) over X region, which matches what is done for entities of English-language countries, e.g. all U.S. county articles use the format "X County" not "X county". The 1a) format is used by more than 6000 articles for entities located in Latin America. It is also used by thousands more from outside Latin America. Spain is the only Spanish-speaking country not to follow the 1a) format for entities called "provinces".
Conclusion: The current titles for articles of the Chilean regions and provinces is closer to what the Wikipedia guideline at Wikipedia:Manual of Style describes as a goal, namely "to make the encyclopedia easier and more intuitive to use. Consistency in language, style, and formatting promotes clarity and cohesion.". Anon Geonames Expert (talk) 03:01, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

List of sets of articles about entities called department, district, province or region, where the entities are located Spanish-language countries of Latin America.

Country Entity type # of entities Adm. level Note
Argentina province 23 1
Argentina department 376 2
Bolivia department 9 1
Bolivia province 112 2
Chile region 15 1
Chile province 54 2
Chile department historic
Colombia department 32 1
Costa Rica province 7 1
Costa Rica district 473 3
Cuba province 15 1
Dominican Republic province 31 1
Ecuador province 24 1
El Salvador department 14 1
Guatemala department 22 1
Honduras department 18 1
Nicaragua department 15 1
Panama province 9 1
Panama district 61 2
Paraguay department 17 1
Peru region 25 1
Peru province 195 2
Peru district 1838 3
Peru department now region
Uruguay department 19 1
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:Naming_conventions_(geographic_names)/Archives/2013/April&oldid=555478147"