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Countries and Rivers

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Names of
Countries

 		Myanmar (formerly Burma, capital is Yangon, formerly Rangoon)
Czech Republic (not "Czechia")
Republic of Srpska (in Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Ivory Coast (not "Cote d'Ivoire")
Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire)
Republic of Congo (capital Brazzaville)
Yugoslavia comprises Serbia and Montenegro
We usually prefer Britain and British to "U.K."
U.S. is preferred to "American".

One-letter
Differences

Take care with place names when using German copy as a source:
Tunisia (not "Tunesia")
Mauritania (not "Mauretania")
Luxembourg (not "Luxemburg")
Hong Kong (not "Hongkong")
Romania (not "Rumania")
Colombia (not "Columbia")
Basle (not "Basel")
Berne (not "Bern")
Tripoli (without "s" at end)
Zaragoza (not "Saragossa")
Genoa (Italy) (not "Genua")
Addis Ababa (not "Addis Abeba")
Pomerania (not "Pommerania")

Spell out compound German place names: Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, not "Frankfurt/Oder".

Rivers

Name multinational rivers in Europe as follows:
(1) by their English names (e.g. Rhine, Danube)
(2) if there is no English name, by the French names (Meuse not "Maas", Moselle not "Mosel")
(3) if they are far from France, by the names used where they reach the sea (Elbe not "Labe", Douro not "Duero")
(4) if a river is a mere tributary, by the name used on its greatest length (Tisza not "Tisa" or "Theiß").
Many rivers are included in the Dictionary of Germanized Place Names.

Note the names of the following border rivers: the Oder River not "Odra", the Neman River not "Nemunas". There are two Neisse rivers: call the one that marks part of the German border with Poland the Lusatian Neisse or simply the Neisse River and name the one that is entirely in Poland the Nysa River by preference, making clear in the story that it is in Silesia.

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