Thursday, September 10, 2009

Places I wish still existed

A list of places and place names I wish still existed:
  • Thibet - as an alternate spelling of Tibet.
  • Formosa - Old Portuguese name for Taiwan. From Ilha Formosa, "Beautiful Isle".
  • Cipangu - Marco Polo's rendering of Japan from a Chinese source.
  • Siam - Old name of Thailand.
  • Burma - On-again off-again name of Myanmar.
  • Contantinople - Not Istanbul.
  • Zaire - Now the Democratic Republic of Congo, not to be confused with the Republic of Congo, which is confusing.
  • Roumania, Rumania - as alternate spellings of Romania.
  • Prussia - A place that no longer exists, the territory now belongs mostly to Russia, Poland and Germany.
  • District of Keewatin - Former Canadian territory now mostly in Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
  • Sandwich Islands - When Hawaii was delicious between 2 slices of bread.
  • Holy Roman Empire - Not really holy nor Roman, but now mostly modern Germany and northern Italy
  • Cathay - Again, Marco Polo's name for China.

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