Pars Pro Toto - Geography

Geography

Certain place names are sometimes used to denote an area greater than that warranted by their strict meaning:

  • "Antigua" for Antigua and Barbuda
  • "Austria" for the former Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Habsburg-ruled lands
  • "Salvador" for Bahia, and vice versa
  • "The Balkans" for the entire Balkan Peninsula and historically-related parts of south eastern Europe
  • "Bohemia" for the former Czech lands, now the Czech Republic
  • "Bosnia" for Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • "Denmark" for the erstwhile Kingdom of Denmark-Norway
  • "England" for Great Britain, the British Isles and/or the United Kingdom (see British Isles (terminology)). Not normally used today by non-English Britons.
  • "Great Britain" for the United Kingdom
  • "Holland" for the Netherlands (see Netherlands (terminology))
  • "Kathmandu" for all three districts inside Kathmandu Valley: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur District, Nepal.
  • "Lithuania" for the historic Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Samogitia
  • "Madras"/"Tamil" when referring to someone from South India which consists of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
  • "Mesopotamia" for the Middle East
  • "Middle East" for the partially overlapping term Arab world
  • "Monte Carlo" for Monaco
  • "Newfoundland" for what is now called Newfoundland and Labrador
  • "Poland" for the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
  • "Portugal" for the former United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
  • "Prussia" for the former German Empire
  • "Rome" for the Roman Empire and for Roman Civilization in general
  • "Russia" for the former Soviet Union
  • "Saint Vincent" for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • "Santo Domingo" for the Dominican Republic
  • "Scandinavia" for the Nordic countries
  • "Serbia" for the former union of Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006, named Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before 2003)
  • "South America" for partially overlapping term Latin America
  • "Tahiti" for French Polynesia
  • "Taiwan" for Republic of China, which consists of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu
  • "Trinidad" for Trinidad and Tobago
  • "Turkey" for the former Ottoman Empire
  • "Vietnam" for the former French Indochina
  • The use of capitals to denote capital regions or even entire countries (e.g., "Canberra" for the Australian Capital Territory, "Ancient Rome" for the Roman Empire)

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Famous quotes containing the word geography:

    “Where the heart is, there the muses, there the gods sojourn, and not in any geography of fame. Massachusetts, Connecticut River, and Boston Bay, you think paltry places, and the ear loves names of foreign and classic topography. But here we are; and, if we tarry a little, we may come to learn that here is best. See to it, only, that thyself is here;—and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not absent from the chamber where thou sittest.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

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    —Derek Wall (b. 1965)

    “Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)