Wikipedia:Naming conventions (settlements): Difference between revisions
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The canonical form for cities in the [[United States]] is <nowiki>[[City, State]]</nowiki> (the "comma convention") ( |
The canonical form for cities in the [[United States]] is <nowiki>[[City, State]]</nowiki> (the "comma convention") (exceptions are [[New York City]] and [[Chicago]]). Those cities that need additional disambiguation include their county or parish (for example [[Elgin, Lancaster County, South Carolina]] and [[Elgin, Kershaw County, South Carolina]]). |
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A United States city's article, however, should ''never'' be titled simply "city, country" (e.g "Detroit, United States"). |
A United States city's article, however, should ''never'' be titled simply "city, country" (e.g "Detroit, United States"). |
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Revision as of 19:25, 21 August 2006
 | This page documents an English Wikipedia naming conventions. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
Please note these conventions for naming city names are merely guidelines, not rules written in stone. They are free to be amended, but it is wise to discuss any major amendment on the talk page first.
General rules
The general rule is to name an article about a city or town with a name that does not conflict with any other town or concept as city name. The rest of this naming convention contains guidelines about naming the articles where disambiguation is required. Articles about cities and towns in some countries should be "pre-disambiguated", by having the article named as if there is a name conflict, even if one is not known at the time of writing the article. In these cases, a redirect should usually be created at the primary name, pointing to the new article, until such time as a disambiguation page is actually required.
The most common way of disambiguating town and city names is to follow the name with a comma, a space and the name of the state, province, or county that it is in, or the name of the country if no second-level administrative region applies. Note that this is different to the common ways of disambiguating other kinds of places and objects, which usually place the disambiguating term in parentheses instead of after a comma.
The primary goal of this naming convention is to achieve consistency within each country. It does not necessarily achieve complete consistency across countries. Hence the remainder of the page is divided into specific guidelines for individual countries where required.
If disambiguation is needed this can be done
- X, Y (currently the most used method)
- X (Y)
- X (city)
where Y is a higher level entity, e.g. a province or the country.
Using "X, Y" is a little bit like saying "X (city in Y)".
By country
Africa
Where possible, articles on places in Africa should go under placename. Where disambiguation is needed, they should go under [[placename, nation]]. Thus Addis Ababa but Shire, Ethiopia.
Asia
Hong Kong
Where possible, articles on places in Hong Kong should go under [[placename]]. Where disambiguation is needed, articles should go under [[placename, Hong Kong]]. Thus Quarry Bay but Stanley, Hong Kong.
India
Articles on places in India go under [[placename]]. When disambiguation is needed, articles go under [[Cityname, State]] (e.g., Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh). For cities that shares its name with other countries (e.g., Hyderabad) the disambiguation style preferred is Hyderabad (India).
Philippines
Where possible, articles on cities go at [[Cityname City]] (e.g. Dumaguete City). When disambiguation is needed, articles go under [[Cityname City, Province]] (e.g. Valencia City, Bukidnon). All municipalities are under the format [[Municipalityname, Province]] (e.g. Valencia, Negros Oriental).
Australia
All Australian town/city/suburb articles are at [[Town, State]] no matter what their status of ambiguity is. Capital Cities will be excepted from this rule and preferentially made [[City]]. The unqualified [[Town]] should be either a redirect or disambig page. Local government areas are at their official name.
Europe
In absence of a common English name, the current local name of the city should be used. When mentioned in a historical context, if there is not a common English name for the city in that historical period and context, use the appropriate historical name, with the current local name in parentheses (if it is not the same word) the first time the city is mentioned. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names) for details.
Belarus
- Major cities (voblast (province) capitals) are named by the most common English usage
- All other settlements are named by national rules
- Exceptions always exist; may be discussed case by case.
France
See Wikipedia:France-related topics notice board for details on naming conventions.
Italy
Places in Italy are disambiguated by province (abbreviated name in parentheses) as is the universal custom in Italy. Thus: Manciano (AR), Manciano (GR).
Ireland
Where possible, articles on places in Ireland should go under [[placename]]. Where disambiguation is needed, articles should go under [[placename, County x]]. Thus Castlebar but Westport, County Mayo. This same convention applies to both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Norway
WikiProject Norway#Naming details article title conventions.
United Kingdom
Where possible, articles on places in the UK should go under [[placename]]. Where disambiguation is needed, they should go under [[placename, county]]. Thus Skegness but Boston, Lincolnshire. Where county definitions have changed, policy is under discussion, but Wikipedia:Naming conventions (places)#Counties of Britain may be helpful.
Northern Ireland
Where possible, articles on places in Ireland should go under [[placename]]. Where disambiguation is needed, articles should go under [[placename, County x]]. Thus Omagh but Cookstown, County Tyrone. This same convention applies to the Republic of Ireland.
Isle of Man
Where possible, articles on places on the Isle of Man should go under [[placename]]. Where disambiguation is needed, articles should go under [[placename, Isle of Man]]. Thus Castletown but Peel, Isle of Man.
Poland
Use the common English name or in absence thereof, the current Polish name. When mentioned in a historical context, if there is not a common English name for the city in that historical period and context, use the appropriate historical name with the current Polish name in parentheses (if it is not the same word) the first time the city is mentioned.
Switzerland
WikiProject Swiss municipalities details conventions for article titles.
North America
Canada
The canonical form for cities in Canada is [[City, Province/Territory]] (the "comma convention"). Places which either have unique names or are unquestionably the most significant place sharing their name, such as Quebec City or Toronto, can have undisambiguated titles. Those cities that need additional disambiguation include their county or parish.
A Canadian city's article, however, should never be titled simply "city, Canada" (e.g "Halifax, Canada".)
United States
The canonical form for cities in the United States is [[City, State]] (the "comma convention") (exceptions are New York City and Chicago). Those cities that need additional disambiguation include their county or parish (for example Elgin, Lancaster County, South Carolina and Elgin, Kershaw County, South Carolina).
A United States city's article, however, should never be titled simply "city, country" (e.g "Detroit, United States").
Mexico
Mexican geographical articles go under [[Placename]] when possible: Acapulco, Hermosillo. If disambiguation is needed, [[Placename, State]], is used (the "comma convention", as in Nogales, Sonora, or Córdoba, Veracruz). The cities that share names with states have been placed at [[Placename, State]]], with the state taking the [[Placename]] location: for example, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, (city) and Oaxaca (state).
South America
Brazil
Brazilian cities go under their disambiguated name when possible. When there's ambiguity, the convention used is [[City, State]]. An exception happens when the city name and the state name are the same: Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro (state), São Paulo, São Paulo (state).
Fictional cities
In order to make the distinction clear, cities which represent a fictional setting do not follow the same naming convention as real locations, even if the fictional city is said to be within a real state, province, or other subdivision. For example:
- Sunnydale, not "Sunnydale, California" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
- Avonlea, not "Avonlea, Prince Edward Island" (Anne of Green Gables)
- Gopher Prairie, not "Gopher Prairie, Minnesota" (works of Sinclair Lewis)
When necessary to disambiguate with other articles, preference is given to using the author's name (literature), the name of the work (television or movies), or other connective quality.