Posted by Alan Hakim on March 12, 2005 at 19:32:18 from 212.137.166.233 user awhakim.
In Reply to: Re: Firenze & Florence (wasTalkee English bimeby) posted by Peter H on March 11, 2005 at 21:56:23:
Could it be that the European countries named their own cities, and the developing countries are objecting to the names forced on them by their former colonizers?
You are right in some cases, Pam, for example the conversion of Salisbury, Rhodesia, to Harare, Zimbabwe. But why has Calcutta become Kolkata? Just to make it impossible to find in an alphabetical list? And can Robert Dilley or some other geographer explain how Madras became Chennai?
As for the Firenze/Florence problem, it gets worse. If you go to Milan (Milano) Centrale station, you will find trains departing for Monaco. Don't take one if you plan to break the bank at Monte Carlo. It's going to Munich (München) in Germany.