List of Retronyms - Geographic Retronyms

Geographic Retronyms

Proper names
These are proper names for the described regions, or corridors.

Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike

A section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Breezewood and Hustontown which was bypassed by a new alignment that bypassed the tunnels because it was too costly to blast away more rock to widen the travel lanes.

Asia Minor

The name Asia was first applied to the mainland east of the Aegean islands, and later extended to the greater landmass of which that is a peninsula.

Baja California

The name California was first applied to the peninsula (thought to be an island) now known as Baja ("Lower"), and later extended – and then restricted – to Alta ("Upper") California, and finally to the current U.S. state.

East Indies

After Columbus landed in the West Indies.

East Prussia

Prussia began as a duchy in what is now Poland. As the highest-ranking dignity of the Hohenzollern dynasty, the name came to be applied to their territories stretching across Germany. The name East Prussia became more significant when it was separated from the rest of Prussia and Germany by the Polish Corridor.

First Chinatown (Toronto)

Toronto's original Chinatown at Dundas and Elizabeth Streets in The Ward, known as such until the construction of the new city hall in the 1960s, which forced Chinatown to relocate westward to its current location at Dundas Street and Spadina Avenue, known as Old Chinatown. Newer Chinatowns, such as East Chinatown, Mississauga Chinatown, Agincourt, and Markham, have since been established in the Greater Toronto Area.

Great Britain

Britons fleeing the Germanic invasions settled in Armorica which became Brittany or Little Britannia.

Lower Saxony

The kingdom and duchies of Saxony are outside the original lowland territory of the Saxon people.

Manhattan Chinatown

For a long time New York City had only one Chinatown. However, there are now large Chinese communities in Flushing, Queens and Sunset Park, Brooklyn therefore a need has developed to differentiate between the city's three Chinatowns.

Old Chinatown

London's original Chinatown (destroyed in The Blitz) was in Limehouse; the new Chinatown is in Soho.