Comment by Galanwe
4 days ago
> The still use Czech Republic for Czechia
Naive question but is Czechia a new name? The UN lists "Czech Republic" as official name and "Czechia" as the short name.
> Republic of Ireland for Ireland
To be fair, I don't think this is partisan, but rather just a way to differentiate the state from the island.
As an Irish person, yes. Just calling Ireland Ireland when you are specifically being asked what country you are from for official purposes is a bit too orbital a view. Same goes for discussions from within a country holding contested ground sharing the name of a country with an island, blah blah.
It's a complicated subject, and nobody begrudges them the clarity.
I think if you ask around, you'll find yourself very much in the minority of Irish people. Republic of Ireland is almost never used outside of the football team, as it's simply not the name of the country.
While I. The context of the BBC, the distinction to Northern Ireland is relevant.
You're not understanding my comment at all. I'm not talking about the internal use of ROI within Ireland.
Not once have I heard anyone even broach this as a topic. Nobody cares. If someone asks you where you are from, and you tell them Ireland, and they inquire the north or the republic - what are you going to do? Just repeat "Ireland" at them like some kind of contrarian idiot? Tell them you are "not from northern Ireland" so as to rule out all of the places you are not from?
ROI is a perfectly serviceable term for helping people understand what you mean, if the context isn't clear enough already.
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> Naive question but is Czechia a new name?
Not a new name, but Czechia has made a concerted effort since 2016 to have it used in place of the Czech Republic. Almost all international body and most media style guides have since acceded. The BBC lags.
> To be fair, I don't think this is partisan, but rather just a way to differentiate the state from the island.
No, like the British Isles, this is very much a controversial name and one to which the Irish Government formally objects. This is even the source of a diplomatic disagreement between the Irish Government and Wikipedia due to their style guide.
If an article would use "Islamic Republic of Iran" then it should use "Czech Republic". If they would just write "Iran" then they should use "Czechia".
I don’t know about the UK but, In America I never hear Czechia, just Czech Republic. To my ears it sounds no more formal than “United States”. I understand that’s not the case in the EU though.
To be fair Czechia has been official for less than a decade. Unless people are dealing with it on a regular basis they're going to use what they know which, for most is still Czech Republic.
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No, that's not the case, as even in contexts where the long name is normally used, such as UN nameplates and resolutions, Czechia is now used in preparation for the removal of the long name.