UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES (UNGEGN)

Working Group on Romanization Systems

Consistent use of accurate place names is an essential element of effective communication worldwide and supports socio-economic development, conservation and national infrastructure. That is why the United Nations established a Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). UNGEGN promotes consistent use of accurate place names and prepares documents for the United Nations Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names that are held every five years. For more information on the activities of UNGEGN see the links below or refer to the UNGEGN brochure.

Working groups are established by UNGEGN to deal with specific tasks, such as training courses in toponymy, toponymic data files and gazetteers, toponymic terminology, country names, publicity and funding, and romanization systems.

Terms of reference

The basic mandate of the Working Group consists of considering and reaching agreement on a romanization system for geographic names proposed by a (donor) country. The process of adoption of such a system by the United Nations involves the following prerequisites:

There needs to be sufficient time for appropriate consultations and an expression of all views on technical matters between the sponsoring country and the working group members. Thus active participation and input of the potential users of the new romanization systems are assured.

Specifically, the group considers whether the romanization system is based on sound scientific principles, the system's degree of reversibility, and the extent of its implementation on cartographic products (maps and charts) by the proposing country.

Finally, the new system is referred to the next U.N. Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in form of a resolution which, in turn, is voted by the Conference. When the resolution is adopted, the subject romanization system becomes the United Nations standard.

(G. Quinting, UNGEGN Newsletter No. 17, May 1996)

Report on the Current Status of United Nations Romanization Systems for Geographical Names

See also an important note on links and report versions.

Version 3.0. March 2008 – November 2010

Contains updates published after the 9th United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (2007)
Romanization systems

Languages/scripts covered by systems recommended by the United Nations:
Bulgarian [2009-03-17: pdf/html] | Hebrew [2008-05-07 (corr. a): pdf/html] | Macedonian Cyrillic [2010-11-17: pdf/html] | Nepali [2010-11-17: pdf/html]

Other languages/scripts:
Byelorussian [2008-04-17: pdf/html] | Georgian [2010-11-17: pdf/html] | Tigrinya [2008-04-17: pdf/html] | Ukrainian [2010-11-17: pdf/html]

Version 2.3. December 2006

Updated version, published in a UN publication: Technical reference manual for the standardization of geographical names (2007; there are updates or changes in the sections for Amharic, Bulgarian, Hebrew, Khmer, Russian; Korean, Lao, Sinhalese, etc.)

Version 2.2. January 2003 [published 2003-02-20]

Introduction [pdf/html] (includes updates from Version 1.3 to 2.1 and from 2.1 to 2.2)
List of languages, countries and romanization systems [pdf/html]
Romanization systems (systems that are revised in Version 3.0 above, are indicated in grey)
- Languages/scripts covered by systems recommended by the United Nations:
  Amharic [pdf/html] | Arabic [pdf/html] | Assamese [pdf/html] | Bengali [pdf/html] | ⇑ Bulgarian [pdf/html] | Chinese [pdf/html] | Greek [pdf/html] | Gujarati [pdf/html] | ⇑ Hebrew [pdf/html] | Hindi [pdf/html] | Kannada [pdf/html] | Khmer [pdf/html] | ⇑ Macedonian Cyrillic [pdf/html] | Malayalam [pdf/html] | Marathi [pdf/html] | Mongolian (in China) [pdf/html] | ⇑ Nepali [pdf/html] | Oriya [pdf/html] | Persian [pdf/html] | Punjabi [pdf/html] | Russian [pdf/html] | Serbian [pdf/html] | Tamil [pdf/html] | Telugu [pdf/html] | Thai* [pdf/html] | Tibetan [pdf/html] | Uighur [pdf/html] | Urdu [pdf/html]
  * Note: Following comments from the Royal Thai Survey Department in May 2003, this section was updated and published, with two errors corrected, on 5 May, 2004.
- Other languages/scripts:
  Armenian [pdf/html] | Burmese [pdf/html] | ⇑ Byelorussian [pdf/html] | Dzongkha [pdf/html] | ⇑ Georgian [pdf/html] | Japanese [pdf/html] | Kazakh [pdf/html] | Kirghiz [pdf/html] | Korean [pdf/html] | Lao [pdf/html] | Maldivian [pdf/html] | Mongolian (Cyrillic) [pdf/html] | Pashto [pdf/html] | Sinhalese [pdf/html] | Tajik [pdf/html] | ⇑ Tigrinya [pdf/html] | ⇑ Ukrainian [pdf/html]
- Annex. Languages that have recently adopted Roman alphabets:
  Azerbaijani [pdf/html] | Turkmen [pdf/html] | Uzbek [pdf/html]
- Note: If you experience difficulties in viewing the non-Roman script pages in HTML format please refer to the appropriate Unicode pages for further assistance.

Version 2.1. June 2002

See technical papers, CRP. 81, published at the UNGEGN website.

Version 1.3. March 2000

Other documents

Meeting of the Working Group (Vienna, 5 May 2011)
- Report on the meeting

26th Session of UNGEGN (Vienna, 2–6 May 2011)
- W.P. 2: Report of the Working Group on Romanization Systems
  Other documents with information on romanization from the UNGEGN website:
- W.P. 21: Romanization System in Ukraine (submitted by Ukraine)
- W.P. 36: Brief Introduction of Foreign Geographical Names Transformed into Chinese (submitted by China)
- W.P. 94: Georgian Consonants and Their Romanization (submitted by Georgia)

Meeting of the Working Group (Nairobi, 26 May 2009)
- Report on the meeting

25th Session of UNGEGN (Nairobi, 5–12 May 2009)
- W.P. 22: Report of the Working Group on Romanization Systems
  Other documents with information on romanization from the UNGEGN website:
- W. P. 55: Toponymic Database Romanization Application (software) (submitted by Tunisia)
- CRP. 1: The Arabic Division of Experts on Geographical Names (ADEGN) (submitted by Arabic Division /Lebanon/)
- CRP. 3: Systèmes français de romanisation (submitted by France)

9th United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (New York, 21–30 August 2007)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.3: Report of the Working Group on Romanization Systems: Activities from August 2002 to June 2007 (link to the UNGEGN website)
- E/CONF.98/2: Implementation of UN Romanization Systems by Donor Nations (link to the UNGEGN website)
  Other documents with information on romanization from the UNGEGN website:
- E/CONF.98/4: Changes in the Official Romanization System for Hebrew (see also proposal for a resolution) (submitted by Israel)
- E/CONF.98/47: Toponymic guidelines for map editors and other editors, Japan (third edition, 2007) (submitted by Japan)
- E/CONF.98/115: Romanisation (submitted by France)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.21: National System of Geographic Names Transmission into Roman Alphabet in Belarus (submitted by Belarus)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.29/EN: Standard Arabic System for Transliteration of Geographical Names (submitted by the Third Arab conference on Geographical Names)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.33: Working Paper on Romanization Font (submitted by Lebanon)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.43: Romanization of Korean Geographical Names: Current Practices and the Way Forward (submitted by the Republic of Korea)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.71: Writing systems: Romanization (submitted by Bulgaria)
- E/CONF.98/CRP.90: Report on the Work for Unifying the "Romanization of Geographical Names of Korea" (submitted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea)

24th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 20 and 31 August 2007)
- W.P. 8: Report by the Convenor of the Working Group on Romanization Systems (link to the UNGEGN website)

Meeting of the Working Group (Tallinn, 9–10 October 2006)
- Agenda and presented documents
- Report on the meeting

Meeting of the Working Group (Vienna, 30 March 2006)
- Report on the meeting

23rd Session of UNGEGN (Vienna, 28 March – 4 April 2006):
- W.P. 98: Report by the convenor of the working group on romanization systems
  Other documents with information on romanization from the UNGEGN website:
- W.P. 22: Toponymy of Mongolian geographical names (submitted by Mongolia)
- W.P. 57: Toponymic Guidelines for Map Editors and other Editors (submitted by Japan)
- W.P. 62: Transcription Procedure for Iranian Toponymic Items (submitted by the Islamic Republic of Iran)
- W.P. 95: Romanization of Korean (submitted by the Republic of Korea)

22nd Session of UNGEGN (New York, 20–29 April 2004):
- W.P. 46: Report by the convenor of the working group on romanization systems
- W.P. 48: Updates to the report on the current status of United Nations romanization systems for geographical names
  Other documents with information on romanization from the UNGEGN website:
- W.P. 23: The stability and appropriateness of the United Nations system for the romanization of Arabic geographical names (submitted by United Kingdom)
- W.P. 54: Transcription procedure for Iranian geographical names (submitted by the Islamic Republic of Iran)
- W.P. 73: Standard Lebanese geographic names romanization rules (submitted by Lebanon)

8th United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (Berlin, 27 August – 5 September 2002):
- E/CONF.94/CRP.80: Report of the working group on romanization systems: activities from January 1998 to May 2002
- E/CONF.94/CRP.81: Report on the current status of the United Nations romanization systems for geographical names (link to the UNGEGN website, Version 2.1; see above)

21st Session of UNGEGN (Berlin, 26 August – 6 September 2002):
- W.P. 3: Report by the convenor of the working group on romanization systems

Meeting of the Working Group (London, 16–17 May 2001):
- Report on the meeting

20th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 17–28 January 2000):
- W.P. 15: Report by the convenor of the working group on romanization systems
- W.P. 34: United Nations Romanization Systems for Geographical Names. Preliminary Report on their Current Status (link to the UNGEGN website)

7th United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (New York, 13–22 January 1998; below all links will direct to the UNGEGN website):
- E/CONF.91/L.22: Report of the Working Group on Romanization Systems: Activities from 24 August 1992 – 12 January 1998 (prepared by the convenor, G. Quinting, United States)

19th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 12 and 23 January 1998):
- W.P. 1: Report by the Convenor of the Working Group on Romanization Systems (submitted by the convenor, G. Quinting, United States)

18th Session of UNGEGN (Geneva, 12–23 August 1996):
- W.P. 21: Report by the Convenor of the Working Group on Romanization Systems (submitted by the convenor, G. Quinting, United States)

17th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 13–24 June 1994):
- W.P. 20: Report of the Working Group on Romanization Systems (submitted by the convenor, G. Quinting, United States)

15th Session of UNGEGN (Geneva, 11–19 November 1991):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on Romanization Systems see pages 16–18)

14th Session of UNGEGN (Geneva, 7–26 May 1989):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System /convenor: G. Quinting, United States/ see pages 17–19)

13th Session of UNGEGN (Montréal, 17 and 31 August 1987):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System for Each Non-Roman Writing System /co-convenors: G. Quinting, United States, and J. Breu, Austria/ see page 7)

12th Session of UNGEGN (Geneva, 29 September – 7 October 1986):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System for Each Non-Roman Writing System /ad hoc convenor: G. Quinting, United States/ see page 8–10)

11th Session of UNGEGN (Geneva, 15–23 October 1984):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System for Each Non-Roman Writing System /ad hoc convenor: J. Breu, Austria/ see page 7–9)

10th Session of UNGEGN (Geneva, 23 August and 15 September 1982):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System /convenor: E. Földi, Hungary/ see page 6)

9th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 17–27 February 1981):
- W.P. 34: Report of the Working Group on a Single Romanization System for each Non-Roman Writing System (submitted by the convenor, E. Földi, Hungary)

8th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 26 February – 9 March 1979):
- W.P. 33: State of work in the Working Group on a single romanization system for each non-roman writing system (submitted by the convenor, E. Földi, Hungary)

6th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 5–26 March 1975):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System for Each Non-Roman Writing System /convenor: J. Breu, Austria/ see pages 18–23)

5th Session of UNGEGN (New York, 5–16 March 1973):
- W.P. 37: Report of the Working Group on a Single Romanization System for each non-Roman Writing System (submitted by the convenor, J. Breu, Austria; see also Rev. 1)
- W. P. 26: Working Group on a Single Romanization System for each non-Roman Writing System – minutes of first meeting 6 March 1973
- W. P. 28: Working Group on a Single Romanization System for each non-Roman Writing System – minutes of second meeting 8 March 1973 (digital copy not yet available)

3rd Session of UNGEGN (New York, 2–12 February 1971):
- Report of the Session (for Working Group on a Single Romanization System /chairman: J. Breu, Austria/ see pages 20–24)

2nd Session of UNGEGN (New York, 10–20 March 1970):
- Report of the Session (for newly created working group on a single romanization system /chairman: G. Gómez de Silva, Mexico/ see pages 13–14)

Links to other UNGEGN sites

UNGEGN website (Statistics Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs)
UNGEGN Working Group on Exonyms (Peter Jordan, Austria; Milan Orožen Adamič, Slovenia)
UNGEGN Working Group on Toponymic Data Files and Gazetteers (Pier-Giorgio Zaccheddu, Germany)
Toponymy Courses Site (Ferjan Ormeling, Netherlands)

Composition of the Working Group

Below you will find the list of members. Some of WG members have retired from active service but continue to be associated with the working group.

Mr. Ass'ad S. Abdo (Saudi Arabia)
Mr. Brahim Atoui (Algeria)
Mr. Hubert Bergmann (Austria)
Mr. Jesse J. Bisogni (United States)
Mr. Abolfazl Bolandian (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Mrs. Caroline Burgess (United Kingdom)
Mme. Élisabeth Calvarin (France)
Mr. Jeffrey M. Carnes (United States)
Ms. Catherine Cheetham (United Kingdom)
Mr. Randall E. Flynn (United States)
Mr. Benjamin D. Foster (United States)
Mr. David A. Gunn (United States)
Mr. Peter Jordan (Austria)
Mr. Naftali Kadmon (Israel)
Mr. Gholamreza Karimzadeh (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Ms. Becki Maddock (United Kingdom)
Mr. Mehran Maghsoudi (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Mr. Peeter Päll (convenor, Estonia)
Mr. Trent C. Palmer (United States)
Mr. Walter Petrovitz (Holy See)
Mr. Tjeerd Tichelaar (Netherlands)
Mr. Alessandro Toniolo (Italy)
Mr. Paul J. Woodman (United Kingdom)
Mr. Bogusław R. Zagórski (Poland)

The Working Group can be contacted at the address of the convenor:

Peeter Päll
Institute of Estonian Language
Roosikrantsi 6
10119 Tallinn
Estonia
Fax: +372-6177500
E-mail: peeter@eki.ee

Notes on errors and any information on new developments in various countries are welcome. Please note that the Working Group has no mandate to review any other systems except those being submitted by the relevant authorities and experts of the donor countries within the framework of the United Nations activities in the standardization of geographical names.

Opened: 2000-04-14
Updated: 2011-11-17