Editing Endonym and exonym (section)

=== Official preferences ===
Sometimes the government of a country tries to endorse the use of an endonym instead of traditional exonyms outside the country:
* In 1782, [[Rama I|King Yotfa Chulalok]] of [[Rattanakosin Kingdom|Siam]] moved the government seat from [[Bangkok Yai District|Thon Buri Province]] to [[Phra Nakhon District|Phra Nakhon Province]]. In 1972 the [[Thai Government|Thai government]] merged Thon Buri and Phra Nakhon, forming the new capital, Krungthep Mahanakhon. However, outside of Thailand, the capital retained the old name and is still called [[Bangkok]].
* In 1935, [[Reza Shah]] requested that foreign nations use the name [[Iran]] rather than Persia in official correspondence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Press |first=Stanford University |title=Start reading The Discovery of Iran |url=https://www.sup.org/books/extra/?id=33828&i=Introduction%20Excerpt.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=sup.org |language=en}}</ref> The name of the country had [[Name of Iran|internally been Iran]] since the time of the [[Sassanid Empire]] (224–651), whereas the name Persia is descended from [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|el-latn|Persis}} (''{{lang|el|Περσίς}}''), referring to a single province which is officially known as [[Fars province]].
* In 1949, the government of [[Siam]] changed the name to [[Thailand]], although the former name's adjective in English (''Siamese'') was retained as the name for the [[Siamese fighting fish|fish]], [[Siamese (cat)|cat]] and [[conjoined twins]].
* In 1972, the government of [[Ceylon]] (the word is the [[anglicized]] form of Portuguese {{lang|pt|Ceilão}}) changed the name to [[Sri Lanka]], although the name Ceylon was retained as the name for [[Ceylon tea|that type of tea]].
* In 1985, the government of [[Côte d'Ivoire]] requested that the country's French name be used in all languages instead of exonyms such as ''[[Ivory Coast]]'',<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Ninth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/crp/9th_UNCSGN_e-conf-98-crp-32.pdf |access-date=11 March 2024 |website=[[United Nations Statistics Division]]}}</ref> so that Côte d'Ivoire is now the official English name of that country in the [[United Nations]] and the [[International Olympic Committee]] (see [[Côte d'Ivoire#Etymology|name of Côte d'Ivoire]]). In most non-[[Francophone]] countries, however, the French version has not entered common parlance. For example, in German, the country is known as {{lang|de|die Elfenbeinküste}}, in Spanish as {{lang|es|Costa de Marfil}} and in Italian as {{lang|it|Costa d'Avorio}}.
* In 1989, the [[government of Burma]] requested that the English name of the country be [[Myanmar]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-02 |title=Myanmar, Burma and why the different names matter |url=https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-burma-different-names-explained-8af64e33cf89c565b074eec9cbe22b72 |access-date=2024-03-11 |agency=Associated Press |language=en}}</ref> with ''Myanma'' as the adjective of the country and ''Bamar'' as the name of the inhabitants (see [[names of Burma]]).
* The [[Government of India]] officially changed the English name of Bombay to [[Mumbai]] in November 1995,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beam |first=Christopher |date=2006-07-12 |title=Mumbai? What About Bombay? |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/07/how-bombay-became-mumbai.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> following a trend of [[Renaming of cities in India|renaming of cities and states in India]] that has occurred since independence.
* The [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] government maintains that the capital of Ukraine should be spelled ''Kyiv'' in English<ref name=":2" /> because the traditional English exonym ''Kiev'' was derived from the Russian name {{lang|ru-latn|Kiyev}} (''{{lang|ru|Киев}}'') (see [[Name of Kyiv]]).
* The [[Belarus]]ian government argues that the endonym ''Belarus'' should be used in all languages.<ref name=":2" /> The result has been rather successful in English, where the former exonym ''Byelorussia''/''Belorussia'', still used with reference to the [[Byelorussian SSR|Soviet Republic]], has virtually died out; in other languages, exonyms are still much more common than ''Belarus'', for instance in [[Danish language|Danish]] {{lang|da|[[:da:Hviderusland|Hviderusland]]}}, Dutch {{lang|nl|[[:nl:Wit-Rusland|Wit-Rusland]]}}, [[Estonian language|Estonian]] {{lang|et|[[:et:Valgevene|Valgevene]]}}, [[Faroese language|Faroese]] {{lang|fo|[[:fo:Hvítarussland|Hvítarussland]]}}, Finnish {{lang|fi|[[:fi:Valko-Venäjä|Valko-Venäjä]]}}, German {{lang|de|[[:de:Weißrussland|Weißrussland]]}}, Greek {{lang|el-latn|Lefkorosía}} ({{lang|el|[[:el:Λευκορωσία|Λευκορωσία]]}}), Hungarian {{lang|hu|[[:hu:Fehéroroszország|Fehéroroszország]]}}, Icelandic {{lang|is|[[:is:Hvíta-Rússland|Hvíta-Rússland]]}}, [[Swedish language|Swedish]] {{lang|sv|[[:sv:Vitryssland|Vitryssland]]}}, Turkish {{lang|tr|[[:tr:Beyaz Rusya|Beyaz Rusya]]}}, Chinese {{lang|zh-latn|Bái'èluósī}} (''{{lang|zh|[[:zh:白俄罗斯|白俄罗斯]]}}''), [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar-latn|rusia albayda'}} ({{lang|ar|[[:ar:روسيا البيضاء|روسيا البيضاء]]}}) (all literally 'White Russia'), or French {{lang|fr|[[:fr:Biélorussie|Biélorussie]]}}, Italian {{lang|it|[[:it:Bielorussia|Bielorussia]]}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|[[:pt:Bielorrússia|Bielorrússia]]}}, Spanish {{lang|es|[[:es:Bielorrusia|Bielorrusia]]}}, and [[Serbian language|Serbian]] {{lang|sr-latn|Belorusija}} ({{lang|sr|[[:sr:Белорусија|Белорусија]]}}).
* The government of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] has been working to have the country renamed from the Russian-derived exonym of {{lang|ru-latn|Gruzia}} in foreign languages to ''Georgia''. Most countries have adopted this change, except for [[Lithuania]], which adopted {{lang|lt|Sakartvelas}} (a Lithuanianised version of the country's endonym). As a response, Georgia changed the name of Lithuania in Georgian from the Russian-derived {{lang|ka-latn|Lit’va}} (''{{lang|ka|ლიტვა}}'') to the endonym {{lang|ka-latn|Liet’uva}} (''{{lang|ka|ლიეტუვა}}''). Ukrainian politicians have also suggested that Ukraine change the Ukrainian name of Georgia from {{lang|uk-latn|Hruzia}} (''{{lang|uk|Грузія}}'') to {{lang|uk-latn|Sakartvelo}} (''{{lang|uk|Сакартвело}}'').
* In 2006, the [[South Korea]]n national government officially changed the Chinese name of its capital, [[Seoul]], from the exonym ''{{lang|zh|漢城/汉城}}'' ({{lang|zh-latn|Hànchéng}}) derived from the [[Joseon]] era [[Hanja]] name ({{Korean|hangul=한성|hanja=漢城|rr=Hanseong}}) to {{lang|zh-latn|Shǒu'ěr}} (''{{lang|zh|首爾/首尔}}''). This use has now been made official within China.
* In December 2021, a circular was issued by President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] of [[Turkey]] ordering the use of Türkiye (also rendered Turkiye in English) instead of exonyms in official communications, no matter the language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkiye – The latest news from TRT World |url=https://www.trtworld.com/turkey |access-date=2022-01-02 |website=Turkiye – The latest news from TRT World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Turkey is now 'Turkiye', and why that matters |url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-turkey-is-now-turkiye-and-why-that-matters-52602 |access-date=2022-01-02 |website=Why Turkey is now 'Turkiye', and why that matters |archive-date=2023-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209232534/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-turkey-is-now-turkiye-and-why-that-matters-52602 |url-status=dead }}</ref>