Tom Cadden wrote:
--- Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
Unlike many other French-speaking countries the official name for English purposes is the French one. See the member list for the United Nations at http://www.un.org/Overview/unmember.html This does not mean that other French speaking countries follow the same practice. The Central African Republic does not appear as République Centraficaine.
That is irrelevant. The official name of the Republic of Ireland is Poblacht na hÉireann. We do not use it.
Nor is the Irish language name a part of the English language list of UN members. (I can't remember for sure if "Eire" was ever on that list, but if it were that would be a valid argument for changing our entry.)
Maybe the US State Department is just following the UN lead on this. The proportion of newspapers and websites using the English name is irrelevant. The position of official Ivoirian sites is more influential.
The position of Ivoirian sites is irrelevant. This is not an Ivoirian encyclopædia but an English language one that does not write its articles to suit governments and official sites.
I didn't say simply "Ivoirian sites" but "official Ivoirian sites" such as the English language materials from their embassies.
Determining the official name of a country is not a matter for voting. That is a sure way of having facts overwhelmed by ignorance.
I'm surprised you don't know that WP policy IS to decide the location of an article by voting. It is done through requesting moves and voting on them. It is a standard procedure used throughout WP.
That only proves the point about voting being evil. With enough flunkies behind it any POV can prevail.
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