Michael Everson wrote:
On 28 Nov 2008, at 00:27, Ray Saintonge wrote:
That's because the nationals of a few small countries perceive a "state" to be a political subdivision.
I don't understand. "Georgia (country)" and "Georgia (state)" would both = Sakartvelo and both contrast with "Georgia (U.S. State)". And the U.S. States are sovereign in a sense (California is more sovereign than County Mayo in Ireland is), though they also are part of a federal structure which is the top-level subdivision in terms of UN recognition.
[[Georgia (state)]] is currently a disambiguation page. California does indeed have greater autonomy than County Mayo; perhaps even Orange County, has more autonomy. I understand that "state" is a technically correct term for an independent country, but in English speaking countries like the United *States* or Australia the more popular notion of political subdivision would tend to prevail.
Would [[Ireland (Republic)]] be sufficient to emphasize that the term "republic" is merely descriptive.
I don't believe it would be preferable. to changee [[Republic of Ireland]] to [[Ireland (republic)]] or to [[Ireland (Republic)]] -- I think you'd get push-back on that. I could ask, but just at the moment that might be poking the hornet's nest.
Whether it's "(Republic)" or "(republic)" should not be a big issue.
Ec