International Cooperation

The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) cooperates with a range of international naming organisations on Antarctic, regional and global place naming and conventions.

 

 

Background to international conventions

Until 1959 there had been constant uncertainty over the spelling of place names internationally. A small team of experts, recognised as prominent in the field, were invited to study questions and try to find answers. Many geographical areas were studied and it was felt necessary to hold an international conference to try to obtain world agreement.

As a result the first Conference on the Standardisation of Geographic Names was held in Geneva in 1967.

One outcome was the creation of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN), which studies issues affecting standardisation of geographic names.

International organisations - global

United Nations Group of Experts on Geographic Names

The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographic Names (UNGEGN) has no executive authority. Its findings require international agreement at five-yearly conferences. The NZGB represents New Zealand's interests at the conferences. The aims are to:

• promote the national standardisation of geographical names
• promote international standardisation
• study the problems of multi-lingual areas
• devise and agree on Romanisation systems
• exchange experiences and results of standardisation
• encourage the creation of standardising agencies
• ensure that standardised names are used on maps and in gazetteers and other publications
• encourage the production of gazetteers and lists of names
• promote international exchange of technologies relevant to geographical names
• encourage the organisation of training courses
• encourage indigenous names.

International organisations - Antarctica

United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

The United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN). The United States assigns names to features over the whole of Antarctica. As this overlaps with New Zealand's area of interest in assigning names to features in the Ross Sea region, the current practice is for New Zealand proposals to go through a liaison process with US-ACAN and vice versa.

Read more about:

• United States policy covering Antarctic names on the USBGN website (part of the United States Geological Survey website), and
• finding Antarctic names.

United States Board on Geographic Names

US-ACAN (above) reports to the United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN), which has developed principles, policies, and procedures governing the use of undersea and Antarctic feature names. USBGN is a United States federal body created in 1890 and established in its present form by United States Public Law in 1947. Comprising representatives of federal agencies, appointed for two-year terms, the USBGN is authorised to establish and maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the United States federal government.

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) operates as a scientific advisory body to the Antarctic Treaty 1959 system. It has a Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information (SC-AGI), which is responsible for collating geographic names in the Antarctic. SC-AGI produces a Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA), seeking input from all countries which are signatories of the Antarctic Treaty that have a role in place-naming.

Read more about:

• SCAR
• finding Antarctic names
• Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information
• the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 at the Antarctica New Zealand website.

SCAR's SC-AGI maintains and further develops the Antarctic Spatial Data Infrastructure (AntSDI).

International organisations - Regional

Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia

As part of Australia and New Zealand's Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM), the Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia (CGNA) was established in 1984 for the coordination of place naming in Australia and New Zealand. Its membership includes federal, state, territory and defence/navy naming authorities in Australia and the NZGB.

The activities of the CGNA aim to:

• develop and encourage the addition of a national Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ADSI) compliant data model for geographic place names
• utilise Internet websites as a prime mechanism for the (two way) sharing of information about geographic place names
• develop and deliver an educational programme to promote the significance of geographic place names in the community, and
• develop and promote the adoption of national standards for the naming of geographic place names.

CGNA provides an opportunity for NZGB to more effectively share and obtain information and knowledge that is relevant to its own operations, as a basis for benchmarking its own practices and for access to expertise.