Talk:Sofia/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: The Almightey Drill (talk · contribs) 20:08, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

I'm very sorry but I will have to quick fail this nomination, for the main reason being the amount of uncited material. Writing about countries and large cities is an incredibly difficult task, for one must know history, culture, economy and many other fields, so please don't take this as an insult to your ability.

There are comparatively few Good Articles on cities compared to other fields, look at Good articles/Geography and places. Look at Skopje, a Good Article for a city with a culture comparable to Sofia, for help.

Here are some of the issues with the article as it is now:


 * The lead is very short and choppy, I don't get the whole article summarised there. I would in fact criticise the article on Skopje for having too long a section on history in the lead, but for Sofia we don't get anything beyond a mention in 700 BC. The most important elements of the history should be in the lead: the Thracians, the Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires, the Ottoman colonisation and Sofia being named the capital of the new independent Bulgaria


 * London develops the demographics in the lead, as this article could do. For example, as somebody who knows little in detail on Bulgaria, I was surprised to see that Sofia is ethnically and religiously homogenous compared to the east of the country. In addition, I did not know that it was small before Bulgarian independence and then grew; that detail could be put on the history bit in the lead or on demographics in the lead.


 * London also names some of the city's main landmarks in the lead. This could be done here, I'm thinking government buildings, leading universities and museums, the cathedral and the city's only World Heritage Site (the Boyana Church). It does not help that only the words "university" and "institution" are linked in Sofia's lead.


 * The part on it being the most affordable capital is probably important enough for the lead, but not as a one-sentence paragraph. Could it be merged into other information?

Now, section by section information:


 * Names
 * The second half of this section is unsourced


 * Geography
 * A claim to be known for 49 springs should have a citation
 * The last paragraph, on the distances, is clunky. There are some possibilities: you could cut it down to only the nearest important cities, or you could convert it into a chart on the side. And Google Maps may not be considered the most reliable source.


 * History
 * Mostly well-sourced. However, all dates in the article should either be Christian (BC/AD) or secular (BCE/CE). Also, only AD can precede a date ("Around BC 29" is incorrect use)
 * In "Modern and contemporary history", the second paragraph has World War I and II, then the third goes back to 1925
 * Who were these ultra-leftists and which King did they target?
 * The last one-and-a-half paragraphs are unsourced


 * Cityscape
 * Again, begins well-sourced but not at the end
 * Gallery is appropriate for this section, but not formatted correctly
 * "Green areas" slowly turns into an advertisement for the skiing facilities


 * Government and law
 * Overall well sourced
 * The death of a notable person like Professor Tachkov is relevant, but maybe too much is written on his background and lifetime


 * Culture
 * Problems with unsourced paragraphs
 * Paragraph on Vitosha Blvd. ends up as an advertisement


 * Sports
 * Suitably sourced, maybe could do with a picture or even a relevant gallery


 * Demographics
 * No problems


 * Economy
 * No problems


 * Transport
 * Last paragraph unsourced


 * Education
 * No problems. Last paragraph unsourced but makes no controversial claims which would need it.


 * Honour
 * Maybe too short to ever be a section for its own. Could merge into Etymology somehow


 * Gallery
 * Stand-alone galleries like this aren't advised, as they are random.
 * Images could be worked in as galleries for sections, like showing Sofia in different times of the year for climate, government buildings in Government and law, religious edifices in Demographics

I'm sorry that I had to fail this, I hope you find these suggestions helpful. &#39;&#39;&#39;tAD&#39;&#39;&#39; (talk) 20:08, 14 August 2015 (UTC)