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Nation Change Your Name Process and Cost: Currently, there is a discussion going on to change the names of railway stations in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier in our country, the names of cities like 'Calcutta' and 'Bangalore' have been changed to 'Kolkata' and 'Bengaluru' respectively. Along with stations and cities, the names of many countries around the world have also changed. It is worth knowing why the name of the country is changed and how complicated and expensive this process is.
These names were changed in India
Since independence, 9 states and 2 union territories have been renamed in India. Apart from the two examples seen above, Uttaranchal became 'Uttarakhand', 'Orissa' became 'Odisha', 'Pondicherry' became 'Puducherry'. 'Bombay' became 'Mumbai', 'Allahabad' became 'Prayagraj', 'Madras' became 'Chennai'… the list goes on and on.
The names of these countries have changed
In the past, 'Burma' has been renamed 'Myanmar', 'Siam' to 'Thailand', 'Persia' to Iran, 'East Pakistan' to 'Bangladesh'. Recently, 'Turkey' has changed its name to 'Turkiye' which is used in the Turkish language there and 'Czech Republic' is now known by the new name 'Czechia'.
Name changed for just one month
It has also happened that many countries have changed the names of their cities for some time. For example, in January 2011, the residents of a small town 'Speed' in Australia changed the name of their town to 'Speedkills' for a month. This was done to create awareness about accidents caused by excessive speeding. The campaign received widespread support across Australia. It was noticed in the media around the world. The townspeople seemed enthusiastic about the campaign. So much so that a local farmer named 'Phil Down' changed his name to 'Phil Slow Down' for a month!
Because of this the name of the country changes
Most of the countries that have changed their names are countries that were under slavery or rule of another country in the past. The names given by other countries have been rejected to forget the bitter memories of slavery. The British had a habit of changing the names of the country and its many places/cities where the British Raj was established. For example, they changed the name of 'Ghana' to 'Gold Coast'. After gaining independence in 1957, the country was renamed 'Ghana' in 1960. 'Ceylon', which was enslaved by the British, gained independence in 1948 and then its name was changed to 'Sri Lanka' in 1972. Similarly, 'Upper Volta', which was freed from French captivity in 1960, changed its name to 'Burkina Faso' in 1984.
The name of the country has also been changed to end the controversy
In 2019, 'Macedonia' changed its name to 'North Macedonia'. This change may seem insignificant but it has improved its relations with Greece. In fact, Greece also has a large region named 'Macedonia', which is just below or south of 'North Macedonia'. Therefore, Greece had been demanding the neighboring country to change its name for a long time. Due to this change, relations between the two countries improved, as well as 'North Macedonia' was also able to join 'NATO' in 2020.
Name change procedure
The process of changing the names of countries is complex and expensive. First, voting takes place within the country to change the name. Then the new name is sent to the United Nations (UN). It has to be told how the name will be written in the 6 official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). If everything goes well, the temporary name gets approval from the United Nations and the country gets a new name.
costs a lot
After the approval of the United Nations, a country changes its name on its military uniform, country's currency, government documents and many other things. This includes changing the name on paperwork, websites, signage in government offices and letterheads of all government offices. All this costs a lot.
It could cost this much
The bigger the country, the higher the cost. Changing the name proves to be more expensive for low-income countries. For example, in 2018, the African country 'Swaziland' was renamed 'Eswatini' at a huge cost of about $6 million. The area of that country (17,363 square kilometers) is about 190 times smaller than the area of India. Its population is only 12 lakhs compared to India's population of more than 140 crores. Now imagine if it cost so much to change the name of Eswatini, then how much will it cost if a huge country like India has to change its name.