38:
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162:. "To this Board shall be referred all unsettled questions concerning geographic names. The decisions of the Board are to be accepted as the standard authority for such matters." The board was given authority to resolve all unsettled questions concerning geographic names. Decisions of the board were accepted as binding by all departments and agencies of the
196:
submitted for decisions to the Board on
Geographical names by individuals, private organizations, or government agencies. It is the Board's responsibility to render formal decisions on new names, proposed changes in names, and names which are in conflict. define the spellings and applications of the
334:
The BGN currently publishes names on its website. In the past, the BGN issued its decisions in various publications under different titles at different intervals with various information included. In 1933, the BGN published a significant consolidated report of all decisions from 1890 to 1932 in its
246:
The BGN does not create place names but responds to proposals for names from federal agencies; state, local, and tribal governments; and the public. Any person or organization, public or private, may make inquiries or request the board to render formal decisions on proposed new names, proposed name
276:
In federal mapping and names collection efforts, there is often a phase lag where a delay occurs in adoption of a locally used name. Sometimes the delay is several decades. Volunteers in the Earth
Science Corps are used to assist the US Geological Survey in collecting names of geographic features.
247:
changes, or names that are in conflict. Generally, the BGN defers federal name use to comply with local usage. There are a few exceptions. For example, in rare cases where a locally used name is very offensive, the BGN may decide against adoption of the local name for federal use.
242:
The BGN has an executive committee and two permanent committees with full authority: the 10- to 15-member
Domestic Names Committee and the 8- to 10-member Foreign Names Committee. Both comprise government employees only. Each maintains its own database.
239:. The BGN rules on hundreds of naming decisions annually and stores over two million geographical records in its databases at geonames.usgs.gov. State and local governments and private mapping organizations usually follow the BGN's decisions.
149:
Office, wrote to 10 noted geographers "to suggest the organization of a Board made up of representatives from the different
Government services interested, to which may be referred any disputed question of geographical orthography." President
220:, includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps which confirm the feature or place name are cited. Variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded.
176:
The
Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names was established in 1943 as the Special Committee on Antarctic Names (SCAN). In 1963, the Advisory Committee on Undersea Features was started for standardization of names of undersea features.
535:
201:
The board has developed principles, policies, and procedures governing the use of domestic and foreign geographic names, including underseas. The BGN also deals with names of geographical features in
297:
The names of post offices have historically been used to back up claims about the name of a community. US Postal
Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the
543:
843:
Report: "Countries, Dependencies, Areas Of
Special Sovereignty, And Their Principal Administrative Divisions", Federal Information Processing Standards, FIPS 10-4.
677:
786:
921:
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17:
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The BGN does not translate terms, but instead accurately uses foreign names in the Roman alphabet. For non-Roman languages, the BGN uses
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916:
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Approved Place Names in
Virginia: An Index to Virginia Names Approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names through 1969
438:
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Report: "Principles, Policies, and
Procedures: Domestic Geographic Names", U.S. Board of Geographic Names, 1997.
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228:
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37:
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399:, a system for rendering geographic names in other writing systems into the Latin alphabet
8:
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100:
709:. United States Board on Geographic Names and Domestic Geographic Names. Archived from
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The board has since undergone several name changes. In 1934, it was transferred to the
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762:
236:
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133:. Nevertheless, its rulings and policies have been controversial from time to time.
864:
836:
U.S. Department of the
Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division,
89:
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and has only granted an exception five times during its history, including one for
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653:
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646:
474:
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294:, which are a subset of locations in the Geographic Names Information System.
466:
503:"The United States Board on Geographic Names: Getting the Facts Straight"
125:. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of
630:
1890–1990, a Century of Service: United States Board on Geographic Names
382:
339:. For many years, the BGN published a quarterly report under the title
202:
126:
301:
defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as
812:"Sixth report of the United States Geographic Board: 1890 to 1932"
587:
701:
667:"Annual Report To the Secretary of the Interior Fiscal Year 2014"
617:(Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1971), v–vi.
223:
The BGN has members from six federal departments as well as the
197:
names for use on maps and other publications of Federal agencies
180:
Its present form derives from a 1947 law, Public Law 80-242.
753:"Theres a Question Mark Hanging Over the Apostrophes Future"
337:
Sixth Report of the United States Geographic Board 1890–1932
787:"Obscure federal rule erased apostrophes from place names"
508:. United States Board on Geographic Names. November 2016
259:
systems or creates them for less well-known languages.
350:
840:, (Reston, Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey, 1994).
626:
190:Decisions on Geographic Names in the United States
633:. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.
620:
878:
216:, developed by the BGN in cooperation with the
659:
429:Geographical Names Board of New South Wales
869:
702:Donald J. Orth and Roger L. Payne (2003).
262:The BGN does not recognize the use of the
158:28 on September 4, 1890, establishing the
99:
36:
739:. Season 7. Episode 1. November 26, 2009.
647:"Advisory Committee on Undersea Features"
609:
607:
605:
603:
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582:President of the United States of America
922:1890 establishments in the United States
912:United States Department of the Interior
892:Agencies of the United States government
814:. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1933
147:United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
131:federal government of the United States
123:United States Secretary of the Interior
111:United States Board on Geographic Names
31:United States Board on Geographic Names
14:
879:
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704:"Principles, Policies, and Procedures"
642:
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192:stated the agency's chief purpose as:
27:US geographic naming government agency
536:"Who Decides What Names Go on a Map?"
534:Berlin, Jeremy (September 15, 2015).
317:), and secondary identifiers such as
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207:Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
529:
527:
525:
523:
408:Denali–Mount McKinley naming dispute
280:
637:
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214:Geographic Names Information System
24:
850:U.S. Postal Service Publication 28
424:Geographical Names Board of Canada
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403:Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
586:
420:, "Father of the Quadrangle Map"
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917:United States Geological Survey
838:Digital Gazetteer: Users Manual
830:
804:
779:
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683:from the original on 2017-08-02
459:
329:
229:US Government Publishing Office
897:Geography of the United States
728:
695:
495:
465:Apart from Martha's Vineyard:
13:
1:
887:Names of places in Antarctica
447:
434:BGN/PCGN romanization systems
341:Decisions on Geographic Names
96:/us-board-on-geographic-names
907:Geographical naming agencies
751:Newman, Barry (2013-05-16).
627:Meredith F. Burrill (1990).
585:. Retrieved on 16 July 2017.
488:
452:
183:
18:US Board on Geographic Names
7:
346:
288:United States Census Bureau
225:Central Intelligence Agency
160:Board on Geographical Names
10:
938:
572:(September 4, 1890; in
467:Carlos Elmer's Joshua View
171:Department of the Interior
136:
188:The 1969 BGN publication
121:body operating under the
84:
77:Mike Tischler, Vice-Chair
67:
49:
44:
35:
791:Las Vegas Review-Journal
540:National Geographic News
292:census designated places
145:, superintendent of the
143:Thomas Corwin Mendenhall
442:Geographic Names Server
55:; 134 years ago
613:Topping, Mary, comp.,
199:
53:September 4, 1890
397:BGN/PCGN romanization
194:
129:names throughout the
375:United States portal
218:US Geological Survey
141:On January 8, 1890,
74:Marcus Allsup, Chair
758:Wall Street Journal
656:Accessed 2013-10-18
233:Library of Congress
32:
716:on January 8, 2016
652:2013-05-11 at the
593:Executive Order 28
568:Exec. Order No. 28
477:, New Jersey; and
413:Name of Pittsburgh
251:Special situations
164:federal government
30:
591:The full text of
281:Other authorities
273:, Massachusetts.
271:Martha's Vineyard
237:US Postal Service
152:Benjamin Harrison
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16:(Redirected from
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865:Official website
852:, November 2000.
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793:. 2018-02-06
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711:the original
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510:. Retrieved
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735:"Gardens".
687:20 February
475:Ike's Point
469:, Arizona;
881:Categories
797:2020-12-14
772:2020-12-14
550:2015-09-19
473:, Oregon;
448:References
267:apostrophe
264:possessive
235:, and the
203:Antarctica
127:geographic
60:1890-09-04
818:17 August
767:0099-9660
489:Citations
453:Footnotes
303:boulevard
184:Operation
902:Geocodes
678:Archived
674:Geonames
650:Archived
347:See also
290:defines
205:via its
720:July 7,
154:signed
137:History
119:federal
117:) is a
85:Website
58: (
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311:street
309:) and
231:, the
227:, the
50:Formed
714:(PDF)
707:(PDF)
681:(PDF)
670:(PDF)
506:(PDF)
319:suite
92:.usgs
820:2021
763:ISSN
722:2009
689:2019
514:2020
307:BLVD
286:The
212:The
109:The
94:.gov
576:en)
439:NGA
323:STE
115:BGN
90:www
883::
789:.
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737:QI
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639:^
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