Cross-border town naming occurs where towns or villages with the same or equivalent names are divided between two different countries. This does not necessarily imply that those towns or villages are located in geographic proximity or that they are located near a current border (divided cities). Reasons for this taking place may include the following:
Contents
- Examples
- DenmarkSweden
- NetherlandsGermany
- NetherlandsBelgium
- BelgiumGermany
- LuxembourgGermany
- BelgiumFrance
- LuxembourgFrance
- FranceGermany
- FranceSwitzerland
- FranceEngland
- FranceSpain
- GermanySwitzerland
- GermanyAustria
- GermanyPoland
- GermanyCzech Republic
- Czech RepublicPoland
- Czech RepublicAustria
- AustriaSlovenia
- ItalyFrance
- ItalyMontenegro
- ItalySlovenia
- ItalySwitzerland
- HungarySlovakia
- HungaryRomania
- PortugalSpain
- SwedenFinland
- EstoniaLatvia
- CroatiaBosnia Herzegovina
- Bosnia HerzegovinaSerbia
- Bosnia HerzegovinaMontenegro
- SerbiaRomania
- RomaniaUkraine
- RomaniaMoldova
- North America
- CanadaUnited States
- United StatesMexico
- ArgentinaChile
- BrazilArgentina
- BrazilBolivia
- BrazilFrench Guiana
- BrazilUruguay
- EthiopiaKenya
- Central African RepublicDemocratic Republic of the Congo
- GabonEquatorial Guinea
- Republic of the CongoDemocratic Republic of the Congo
- AngolaDemocratic Republic of the Congo
- MalawiMozambique
- ZambiaZimbabwe
- ZimbabweMozambique
- AzerbaijanIran
- GeorgiaTurkey
- China Hong Kong SAR
- TajikistanAfghanistan
- OmanUAE
- References
Most places are in Europe, but there are also some examples in North America and Asia. In Europe, until the first half of the 20th century and again since the Schengen Agreement in the late 20th century, such divisions could be mostly ignored by the inhabitants.
Examples
Note that this list includes only places with similar names that are in someway connected (by history, geography or otherwise) across modern-day international borders. Towns that have the same name but bear no relationship to each other are also very common but not particularly notable.
Denmark–Sweden
Netherlands–Germany
Netherlands–Belgium
Belgium–Germany
Luxembourg–Germany
Belgium–France
Luxembourg–France
France–Germany
France–Switzerland
France–England
France–Spain
Germany–Switzerland
Germany–Austria
Germany–Poland
(*) In some cases there have been added exonyms to show the relationship between the towns more clearly for people not familiar with the respective languages.
Germany–Czech Republic
(*) In some cases there have been added exonyms to show the relationship between the towns more clearly for people not familiar with the respective languages.
Czech Republic–Poland
(*) In some cases there have been added exonyms to show the relationship between the towns more clearly for people not familiar with the respective languages.
Czech Republic–Austria
Austria–Slovenia
Italy–France
Italy–Montenegro
Italy–Slovenia
Italy–Switzerland
Hungary–Slovakia
Hungary–Romania
Portugal–Spain
Sweden–Finland
Estonia–Latvia
Croatia–Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina/Serbia
Bosnia-Herzegovina–Montenegro
Serbia–Romania
Romania–Ukraine
Romania–Moldova
North America
Towns and cities listed have names of a common origin across an international boundary; matching pairs across provincial or state boundaries (such as Kansas City or Lloydminster) are common but are not listed here.
Canada–United States
United States–Mexico
Argentina–Chile
Brazil–Argentina
Brazil–Bolivia
Brazil–French Guiana
Brazil–Uruguay
Ethiopia–Kenya
Central African Republic–Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gabon–Equatorial Guinea
Republic of the Congo–Democratic Republic of the Congo
Angola–Democratic Republic of the Congo
Malawi–Mozambique
Zambia–Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe–Mozambique
Azerbaijan–Iran
Georgia–Turkey
China-Hong Kong SAR
Tajikistan–Afghanistan
Oman–UAE
References
Cross-border town naming Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA