Talk:Cross-border town naming

Rosenkrans
Where is Rosenkrans in Denmark? I know it's not directly on the border of Germany because the Danish town that borders Rosenkranz, Germany is Rudbøl. I've tried looking for it on a few maps and via the internet, but the only (non-verifiable) result I've found mentions something miniscule on the island of Als - placing it not only way on the other (Eastern) side of the border but also not all that close to the border. I've been all throughout that border and I've never seen any signs, roads or even farms with that name. Can anyone clarify this?

Cross-Provincial/Territorial/State Border
In countries like Canada and the United States, where their 2nd-tier govn'ts are well-known and cover large areas, there are quite a few worth worth naming such as Chicago, Ottawa-Ganiteau, Lloydminster etc.

NagamasaAzai 02:10, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Opening paragraph
The emphasis in the opening paragraph is the wrong way around. It implies two places were given the same name.

In the European context this is usually not the case. The town or village often existed before the border, or even before the modern concept of a border. The border was added later (not always due to war), and divided a community. Often, until at least the first half of the 20th century, and again in the post-Schengen 21st century, such divisions could be mostly ignored by the inhabitants.

I suggest: ".... concept where towns or villages with the same name have become split into two halves, in two different countries." TiffaF 08:07, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

I have now re-written this opening paragraph. TiffaF 10:52, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Non-border towns
Somebody added the following:
 * ====Spain/Cuba====
 * Melilla / Melilla


 * ====Spain/Italy====
 * Melilla / Melilla


 * ====Spain/Uruguay====
 * Melilla / Melilla

I have taken them out as they are not cases of identically-named towns on either side of a border, they are totally unconnected places with the same name. TiffaF 10:30, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Also removed:
 * ====Netherlands/United Kingdom====


 * Tilburg / Tilbury

Somebody doesn't understand what this page is for. Netherlands does not have a border with the United Kingdom, and Tilburg has no connection with Tilbury. TiffaF 11:08, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Also removed:
 * ====Canada/The United States of America====
 * Vancouver, Washington / Vancouver, British Columbia

Neither Vancouver is adjacent to the US/Canada Border. They're named for the same person only indirectly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.122.15.24 (talk) 23:18, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Lloydminster
While Lloydminster does not straddle a national border, it does straddle a provincial border in Canada, and was at one point two separate cities when the provincial border was first drawn. As provincial borders are as geographically significant as national borders in Europe, I feel LLoydminster deserves a mention here.

Merge with Divided cities
This article and Divided cities appear to be covering the same territory (pun intended). I propose they be merged. TiffaF 07:45, 4 December 2006 (UTC)


 * While divided cities are a subsection of cross-border naming, not all cross-border towns with connected names are necessarily divided. I.e. East and West Berlin would have been an example for both a divided city and cross-border naming, but e.g. Neuf-Brisach and Breisach are related but not divided. Travelbird 14:37, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

A community on one side of a border grows up to service the border, and takes the name of the adjacent community on the other side of the border.
Somebody changed this to "A community on one side of a (future) border grows up, ...", But that isn't what I meant. What I meant is the border is put there first, then a comunity grows up because there is a border and uses the same name as the (larger) community on the other side. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by TiffaF (talk • contribs) 13:04, 15 April 2007 (UTC).

Names entirely different for border towns
Am I correct in thinking that most of the Canada/USA, North Korea/China and Macao/Mainland China town combos do not fit the criteria for this wiki?. User:Brenont 18:09, 25 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I've removed a few like "Sarnia/Port Huron" which clearly do not fit the criterion of a name of common origin, but there are likely more which don't belong on this list. K7L (talk) 13:05, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Macau and Hong Kong
Are Macau and Hong Kong considered countries? I thought they were special administrative regions of China. If these count, then how about US state lines? Shall we add Wendover, Utah and West Wendover, Nevada? There must be a hundred of these. There used to be two Las Vegas, New Mexicos, but they merged.  Randall Bart    Talk   18:27, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Silly country names
Who decided to include full (official) country names as well as "general" country names (such as "Mexico, United States of Mexico" and "France, The French Republic)? This seems a bit silly (and superfluous) as general country names (as France, Mexico) should do the trick? Niels? ennl 23:46, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

# Dunkerque / Dunkirk
Does this actually meet the criteria? There is little if any relationship between the two town other than Dunkirk was probably named after Dunkerque as one of it's early founders was a landowner there. Surely if we are going to add cities with connections like this (connected by name and people) then half of the cities in the US would qualify along with their European equivalents. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 145.8.104.65 (talk) 09:21, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm intending to remove the whole France/England section as being ludicrous. If you can think of a good reason for retaining it, please let me know. --Worldweary (talk) 17:25, 24 February 2022 (UTC)


 * I took the freedom to remove the section, as nobody gave a good reason for retaining it. Dinsdagskind (talk) 14:35, 10 September 2022 (UTC)

Rafah
Why isn't Rafah in the article?

Rafah, Egypt and Rafah, Gaza Strip Aminabzz (talk) 18:49, 16 October 2023 (UTC)