The empire’s gone, but the ambitions remain

Grigory Pasko, journalist

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In the nearest future, a new geographic map will be published in Russia in which Abkhazia and South Ossetia are designated in different colors from the colors of Georgia. The capitals of these states, which almost nobody in the world recognizes, will be designated on the map as Sukhum and Tskhinval (until then they had for centuries been called Sukhumi and Tskhinvali).

In the words of deputy head of the Federal Agency for Geodesy and Cartography Radmil Shayapov, the changes in the maps have been introduced in accordance with the recommendations of the MFA of Russia. [It should be noted that this name change is most unusual. Russian maps have traditionally continued to use old place names despite the preferences of the locals. The capital of China is still Peking, Myanmar is still Burma, the capital of Turkmenistan is still Ashkhabad, Russia’s neighbors to the west are still Byelorussia and Moldavia, and the RF’s own Republic of Bashkortostan is still Bashkiria, just to give a few examples.–Trans.]