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"Greece" is called "Hellas" by Greeks themselves - and nobody cares. A name doesn't have to be the same as that used by the natives, as the point of the name is
by JetSetWilly 6y ago
"Greece" is called "Hellas" by Greeks themselves - and nobody cares. A name doesn't have to be the same as that used by the natives, as the point of the name is not to be accurate to what natives call it, but to provide a commonly understood reference.
In English names for places and things are quite often different to what it is called in other languages - that's fine. There's no central authority that mandates what syllables should be used to refer to things.
- 082349872349872 6y agoNo central authority, but there is a central reference, Wikipedia, which allows one to quickly translate between names for places and things, so the need for a canonical name is much less than in the days when one might need to consult a reference book or have various names in one's readily-accessible memory. İstanbul (not Κωνσταντινούπολη): "Why did Constantinople get the works?"
- markdown 6y agoSure, but surely in 2020 we can be more respectful of the wishes of the indigenous people. We should call people what they want to be called. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ibSvOWAMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ibSvOWAMg
- occamrazor 6y agoThe Greeks cared enough to change the country code from ISO-3166 GR to EL in all Eurostat official statistics.