Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGiK)

The Session of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names was held at the UN headquarters in New York. The session was attended by over 200 people – delegates from 52 countries, 4 international scientific organizations and other institutions.

On behalf of the Surveyor General of Poland, the session was attended by Mr Maciej Zych – Chairman of the Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names Outside of Poland. The session was held under the title: "Supporting the standardization of geographical names through inclusive, culturally oriented and evidence-based solutions to support sustainable development".

The session was divided into 8 thematic blocks and 5 organizational blocks, including:

1. Reports:

1. Expert Group Divisions;
2. Governments — on the situation in their countries and progress in standardizing geographical names;
3. Activities related to the standardization of geographical names in Africa;
4. National and international meetings and conferences.

2. Technical expertise:

1. Collection of names, processing in offices, facilities extending beyond one jurisdiction and international cooperation;
2. Management of geographical names data;
3. Writing systems and pronunciation;
4. Toponymic terminology;
5. Names of countries.

3. Relationships, Linkages and Collaborations:

1. Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Governance;
2. Economic Commission for Africa;
3. International organizations, including academia

4. Effective action programmes:

1. Measures taken and proposed to implement resolutions and recommendations;
2. Assessment of the work of the Group of Experts;
3. Social and economic benefits of supporting sustainable development;
4. Toponymic guidelines for international use by editors of maps and other publications.

5. Culture, heritage and linguistic recognition:

1. Geographical names as part of culture, heritage and identity;
2. Indigenous, minority and regional languages ​​and multilingualism issues;
3. Exonyms.

6. Promotion and capacity building:

1. Strengthening outreach and raising awareness of the importance of standardizing geographical names;
2. Toponymic training and education;
3. Funding for capacity building initiatives.

7. Other issues related to geographical names.

During the session, the Polish representative presented 4 papers:

1. Report of the Baltic Division of the UNGEGN
2. Report of Poland, 2023–2025
3. Polish exonyms of buildings and other urban objects
4. Fifth edition of the toponymic guidelines of Poland

 

A novelty during the session was an online poster exhibition (available at: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/ungegn/sessions/4th_session_2025/documents/V1.LinksFinal.pdf), during which 45 posters and multimedia presentations from 20 countries and Google were presented, including an Italian presentation consisting of 16 posters, mainly on the history of cartography: Maps and Toponyms from our World to other World – Italy (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/ungegn/sessions/4th_session_2025/documents/V1.LinksItaly-1.pdf.pdf).

 

Detailed information on the sessions, including the presented papers, reports, documents and recordings from each day of the session are available on the UNGEGN website at:  https://unstats.un.org/unsd/ungegn/sessions/4th_session_2025/

 

The next session is planned for 2-7 May 2027, also in New York.