Minutes of the 19th Meeting of the Baltic Division of United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN)

Vilnius, 21st–24th May 2018

Русская версия

  1. The 19th Meeting of the Baltic Division of United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) took place on 21st–24th May 2018 in Vilnius (Lithuania), at the invitation of the National Land Service under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania.
  2. Experts from the following member countries took part in the meeting: Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Estonia, the experts from the observing countries – Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus. Full list of participants is given in Annex 1.
  3. Participants of the meeting discussed and adopted the agenda of the 19th meeting of the Baltic Division (Annex 2). Polish delegation could not attend the meeting, but their report will be given on the website of the Baltic Division.
  4. The participants of the meeting exchanged information on the status of work on national standardization of geographical names carried out in the countries; national bodies on the standardization of geographical names and the legislation in the field of naming of geographical objects; the status and development perspectives of national toponymic databases of cadastres, registers etc.; perspectives of national toponymy development; the standardization of the names of natural objects; geographical names in the light of the reform of local governments; problems in naming ameliorated water courses.
  5. 18 reports were presented and discussed. Discussion on problems in naming of canalized (ameliorated) or artificial parts of natural water streams and of fully canalized. An exhibition was organized that consisted of published in the participating countries of the meeting toponymic dictionaries and other publications on geographical names, as well as cartographic works.
  6. There was held an exhibition of editions on geographical names, as well as cartographic works published in the countries participating in the meeting.
  7. The participants of the meeting discussed the issue of holding the next meeting of the Baltic Division. The participants put forward a proposal to host the 20th meeting of the Baltic Division in 2019 in Latvia.
  8. The election of the chairman of the Baltic department for the next period – 4 years (2018–2021) was held. The participants of the meeting unanimously elected Vita Strautniece (Latvia) as Chairperson of the Baltic Division. The vice-chairperson's position of the Baltic Division on the principle of rotation should be offered to Poland provided that if Poland agrees to be deputy chairperson of the Baltic Division for the next term.
  9. It was recommended to publish materials and other documents of the 19th meeting of the Baltic Division on the website of the Division (http://eki.ee/knn/ungegn/index.htm; http://eki.ee/knn/ungegn/bd_ru.htm).
  10. Representatives of participating countries expressed desire for further cooperation and contacts.
  11. Representatives of participating countries expressed appreciation and gratitude to the organizers of the 19th meeting of the Baltic Division.

Vita Strautniece,
Vice-Chairperson of the Baltic Division