A continuation to https://app.warera.io/article/683713b6c49002684509df61, which I decided to expand upon. This new article is the first edition of a more thorough analysis of region names across the globe.
You will notice that a noticeable portion of this boils down to some regions being simply too broad for a decent representative name; that is indeed part of the message I want to transmit. I believe some regions are much too large and deserve to be reworked as was the case for others in an update from some months ago.
This edition will cover core territories of https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac79a, https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7a4, https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7a0, https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7fb, https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7a6, https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7a2, https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7a8 and https://app.warera.io/country/6813b6d446e731854c7ac7aa.
If any of those are missing in the report, it means I found no particularly misnamed regions among all they have a core on, but please tell me if I missed anything so I can compile forgotten entries as an addendum at the end of this series.
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7049403bc4170a5d6c3
Observations:
While Nantes was returned to it as it should, it brought in the rest of the Pays de la Loire with it, which makes the name too broad to represent the region as a whole.
Proposed alternate names:
Armorica
In reference to the Armorican massif, and while this is a name of topological origin, it's more accurate at representing the area covered by the region (though missing former Lower Normandy but splitting Normandy apart would be an even greater travesty).
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7049403bc4170a5d6c0
Observations:
The first of many regions afflicted with a name including a generic component (think a cardinal direction, central, upper / lower, inner / outer and the like).
This is an example of a poorly delimited region, and while the name is geographically correct it is doing a disservice to the local reality.
Proposed alternate names:
Channel
Arguably the better alternative (which I suspect would have been part of the debate around naming the region, if there was one), due to the obvious proximity to the Channel.
Other suggestions:
Even better options would have been to restrict it to Normandy, and put the Hauts-de-France into Eastern France instead; or merge Normandy into Armorica, fully justifying its name change, at which point "Northern France" would be a decent translation for the remaining part (Hauts-de-France).
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7039403bc4170a5d6b7
Observations:
Already brought this up for Northern France. It's there. It's French. It's in the centre. 😐
One of the regions too big to give a single, agreeable upon name, and especially not one as generic.
Proposed alternate names:
Loire
From the river that flows through the western two thirds of it.
Loire-and-Rhone
Or Rhone-and-Loire. If you want to be nice to people from Lyon or Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes in general.
Btw I don't understand the decision in 2015 to merge regions all across the country. Unifying Normandy was a nice play on their part, but Auvergne with Rhone-Alpes? Really? Would have gone better with Limousin as Massif central (and yes I'm willing to die on that hill (like those hills even since that's what Auvergne is about) should the debate arise in the future.
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7049403bc4170a5d6c6
Observations:
Still French, not even that much east in the south though, it's more generally south.
Proposed alternate names:
Occitany
For covering a majority of the Occitan cultural and language area, only missing Aquitaine which is already its own region, both being relatively large on their own, and itself bearing a name close to its real one (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, or New Aquitaine).
Golfe du Lion
From the namesake gulf, which is located between the Gerona province in Catalonia and the Var department in France, basically covering its entire coast. Chosen for its many cities (Marseille and Nice among others) and high tourist attractivity along the coast.
Southern France
The lesser of the three options, it at least gets rid of the original's "east" component which it doesn't represent too well.
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7039403bc4170a5d696
Observations:
Region of Italy localised in its northeast.
Proposed alternate names:
Venetia-Trentino
From Venetia, the coastal region that includes famous port city Venice, and Trentino, a more montainous province further north (capital Trento).
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7049403bc4170a5d6ed
Observations:
An actually good name, if not for the fact it only represents part of the region, albeit Catalan is the dominant language in the region.
Proposed alternate names:
Aragon
From its historical background, also modern Aragon is more central in the region than Catalonia.
https://app.warera.io/region/6813b7049403bc4170a5d6f3
Observations:
More generic naming. 😔
Proposed alternate names:
Cantabrian Mountains
From the name of the mountain range running across the southwestern part of the region, serving as a natural boundary in its western part.
That's all of the rant for today. 😆
Like, tip and subscribe if you're interested and want to see future parts with your country featured on it. 👍
Do tell me of any ideas you have for alternate names for regions from your country as I'll eventually try to push this series to WarEra's Discord server as suggestions to effectively get regions reworked before an official update.