Talk:North Ossetia-Alania

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I moved this page to North Ossetia because that is the name in English. The name North Ossetia-Alania is a translation of the Russian version, and it is not used in English. --Cantus 04:12, Sep 4, 2004 (UTC)

Have you tried a Google search? Gzornenplatz 15:57, Sep 5, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, I have.

Search: "north ossetia" -"north ossetia-alania" -wikipedia|wiki 50,300
Search: "north ossetia-alania" -wikipedia|wiki 36,500

Plus, this is the way the CIA World Factbook [1] and Britannica [2] refer to this republic. Oddly enough, Encarta uses Alania [3]. The Columbia Encyclopedia is the only one using North Ossetia-Alania [4].

If we're going to start using translations/transliterations of geographical names only, then why don't we call Russia Rossiya then?

The Wikipedia policy is to use the most common name in the English language. That is, North Ossetia.--Cantus 21:16, Sep 5, 2004 (UTC)

So 36,500 hits (42% of the total) means it is "not used in English"? Considering that some of the references may be historical - and in Soviet times it was indeed simply North Ossetia - the usage is rather equally divided. The thing is it was only relatively recently renamed North Ossetia-Alania, and in such cases there is always a lag until everyone uses the new name. And this is not a question of transliterations. The equivalent of Rossiya here would be Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya, which no one wants to use as the title. Gzornenplatz 21:53, Sep 5, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] 2Ezhiki

About what kind of tolerance you talking about. If you revert to false and anti-ossetian information on pagese about Ossetia???

As your actions looked like common vandalism, I was talking about tolerance towards vandalism. Since you let me know that you have a problem with the way the content in the article, I apologize for misinterpreting your actions.
Here is why I still reverted your changes to this particular article:
You keep deleting the following passage:
The republic used to have a sizeable Ingush population, but most of it left for Ingushetia with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of interethnic conflict in the region.
If you have any proof that the republic did not have a sizeable Ingush population, or that most of it did not leave with the dissolution of the USSR, please post it here. Until then, the passage should stay. Even though it's a wiki, the removal of information should be backed with facts.
The transliteration change was rolled back because English transliteration, by the very definition, uses the letters of English alphabet to render spelling of the foreign words. As letter "æ" is not present in English, it is replaced with "ae".
Ëzhiki (erinaceus amurensis) 20:42, July 30, 2005 (UTC)

1. See statistics! The republic have a sizeable RUSSIAN population - befor and after any events! In difference from neighboring republics...

2. æ - symbol from IPA(International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription systems for English. This symbol from Latin-1 Supplement range.

  1. According to the statistics, Ingush population was the third largest population group after Ossetians and Russians—how is that not "sizeable"? A large portions of Russians is to be expected for historic reasons, and Ossetians are native, which leaves Ingush people as the largest group of "non-native" population. Also, sizeable or not, you discarded the whole passage, not just this little bit of information. Please, explain further. "Correction to nowaday information" is not a good excuse, as Wikipedia is not about providing only the most recent information, but also historical facts and past conditions. Ingush migration is one of the topics that would interest readers of this article, and, unless you are willing to write a whole new article on this (or if you are aware of an existing article on this topic), there is no better place to mention it.
  2. The transliteration line you are changing is consistent for all Russian federal subjects utilizing the article format. The transliteration is not per IPA guidelines, but per English transliteration guidelines, which do not allow using letters other than those present in the English alphabet (that does not include the supplement range). If you wish to add an IPA rendition of the republic's name, feel free to do so elsewhere in the article, but please note that simply replacing "ae" with "æ" will not achieve the desired result. See International Phonetic Alphabet for details. Also of interest: Template:IPA and the list of pages that link to it (to see how it is used).
Ëzhiki (erinaceus amurensis) 21:40, July 30, 2005 (UTC)

1. Finded some compromise. See Demographic section. 2. OK. Transliteration and transcription not the same.

I have no problem with the new wording. If someone else does, I am sure they will comment here. Thanks.—Ëzhiki (erinaceus amurensis) 21:19, July 31, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Project?

Hi there. I'm just wondering whether the creation of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ossetia, Portal:Ossetia, and Template:Ossetia-geo-stub has ever been proposed or disucssed. I think User:Zandweb's unilateral decisions don't particularly meet Wikipedia's guidlines. Kober 05:13, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

What's the problem about such a portal? Would you like to see separate portals for the North and South Ossetia? Or would you like to see none? - Slavik IVANOV 21:58, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
I have no problem with the portal, but it needs to be first proposed, then discussed and finally created. Please consult WP:P. --Kober 04:14, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for the link. Still I can't find there any claim like that. See WP:P#How_to_create_a_portal and Wikipedia:Portal/Instructions. Seems like everybody may create new portals to make "useful entry-points to Wikipedia content". - Respectfully, Slavik IVANOV
Well... the portal guidelines seem to have been drastically changed since I last checked them in July 2006 when I went through a series of procedures to gain an approval for Portal:Georgia. Regards, Kober 20:15, 21 September 2006 (UTC)