Geo answer

Today’s Geo Quiz has a couple of answers.

There are dozens of disputes around the world…over names. Some arise when countries rename their cities to their “pre-colonial” names….Bombay is now Mumbai for example in India. The Persian Gulf used to be called the Arabian Gulf. Ask a Tibetan what the highest mountain in the world is, and you won’t get Mt Everest as the answer… instead it’s Chomolungma. It’s enough to drive mapmakers a bit crazy.

Here’s one more to throw into the mix:

What’s the name of the sea that lies between the Korean peninsula and the island of Japan? It’s part of the western Pacific Ocean, and its bordered by Japan, Korea and Russia. And like the mostly enclosed Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides.

But it does have several names…depending on whom you ask. So we’re asking…what’s the name of this sea?

Time to settle the score with our Geo Quiz.

The United Nations refers to the sea that lies between the Korean peninsula and Japan…as the Sea of Japan. North and South Korea prefer alternative names. As our South Korean colleague Hyu Choon Lee points out:

“(Korean, then English) “We call it the East Sea or the East Sea of Korea.?

photo courtesy Lisa Mullinsphoto courtesy Lisa Mullins

Koreans say they’ve been using those names for more than 2,000 years. But the UN is sticking with “Sea of Japan.” Last year, the world body urged the the Korea’s, Russia and Japan to form a consensus, and said individual countries could not impose specific names on the international community.