On 5/21/07, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Technically speaking, modern Georgia has only existed
since the fall
of the Soviet Union (or there abouts), which is presumably what Matt
was referring to.
Indeed.
The article does, however, include plenty of
information about pre-Soviet Georgia, so that argument doesn't really
hold water. Were the article specifically about modern Georgia, he
would have a point.
My point, though, is not to say 'Georgia-the-state is much more
important, of course it should have the un-disambiguated title', but
rather that the position that Georgia-the-country, because it has been
for sixteen years an independent state, should AUTOMATICALLY have
primacy is ludicrous.
The state is bigger in terms of population and
economy, although
(according to Wikipedia) it is slightly smaller in terms of area,
which I would consider a "measure [I] care to name".
My mistake; I'm remembering this from the last time this got argued on
this list, and my memory clearly was wrong here.
I really don't think there is a better solution
than to have a
disambig page. There are two major meanings to the word, so we list
them and let the reader choose. It works.
Exactly.
It irritates me that this issue is trotted out as an example of
'US-centric Wikipedia' every single time, when it's only a simple case
on the surface and relies on a knee-jerk reaction for its popularity.
The reasoning behind complaining about this assumes that Wikipedia
naming and disambiguation should rely on a rigid taxonomy of
importance in which nation-states have automatic primacy over the
constituent states of a federation. This creates the simplistic cry
of 'These damn Americans think that a mere internal division of the US
is more important than a EUROPEAN NATION STATE! How dare they?'.
Personally, I don't think that the US State of Georgia should have
primacy either, and I would oppose any attempt to make the US state
occupy the [[Georgia]] title just as strongly as I would oppose any
attempt to make the country occupy it.
The current status quo ([[Georgia]] being a disambiguation page) is an
outrage only if one accepts the rule that nation states should
automatically have primacy.
-Matt