InterCarto. InterGIS (Jan 2017)

CREATION OF A SPECILIZED TOPONYMIC GIS FOR AREAS OF DERUSSIFICATION, DESOVIETIZATION AND DECOMMUNIZATION

  • S. A. Teslenok,
  • N. G. Ivlieva,
  • N. V. Uchevatkina,
  • K. S. Teslenok

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24057/2414-9179-2017-2-23-13-26
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 2
pp. 13 – 26

Abstract

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The main purpose of any geographical name is the fixation of a particular object or territory with a spatial reference on the earth’s surface. Regional toponymy is a priceless monument of spiritual culture of humanity, preserving the memory of the peoples about his past. Each name reflects the characteristics of the named object, causing the efficiency to attract them to various historical, geographical and linguistic problems. There’s a certain degree of variability – as separate names, and toponymic complex – not only in space but also in time. This is due to features of the historical development of ethnic groups and territories, and ongoing political changes. However, in 1972 the General conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention concerning the protection of world cultural and natural heritage, intended to prevent distortions and renaming of historical names.In this regard, an important and urgent task is preservation of names of geographical objects, widely known in the past, and currently existing as an integral part of the historical and cultural heritage of the peoples of different regions of the Earth. In particular toponymy of certain regions of derussification, desovietization and decommunization as an object of multifaceted complex system of study should be dealt with, as well as analysis of toponyms subjected to these processes since their inception to the present time – preserved in historical sources, official documents and live speech, and in retrospective cartographic materials.In accordance with the comprehensive multidisciplinary focus of the study and toponymy in general, solving these tasks, as well as the promotion of scientific knowledge and information on the toponymy in the community, is designed to promote the development and creation of spatial databases for specialized toponymic GIS. Because toponymy as a separate territory is a system, its main structural and functional elements, interconnection and interaction, allow one widely to use the methods of geoinformation modeling and mapping.

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