Bogdan Giusca wrote:
The current naming policy for less-known placenames
(those with no
name in English) is to use the spelling in the language of the country
where the place is located.
Now there's a problem with unrecognized countries: i.e. countries
which declared their independence, but which are not recognized internationally.
I have an example in Transnistria:
The town of Malaiesti (population ~5000) is officially in Moldova, but
practically, it is under Transnistrian control.
Which spelling should be used for its article name? The Romanian/Moldovan spelling
(Malaiesti) or the Russian speling (Malayeshty)?
The fact that Moldovan is already written with the Roman alphabet is a
strong argument in its favour. A Russian form still needs to be
transliterated from the Cyrillic. Legally, Transnistria is a part of
Romania, and it should not be up to us to decide whether it should be an
independent country.
Ec