About the Commission

The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names was established in 1986 on the proposal of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia. In its first term of office, in addition to dealing with procedural issues, the Commission standardised the names of independent countries and some dependent territories and adopted recommendations on the proposed amendments to settlement and street names. The Commission was re-appointed in 1990, however it did not operate from 1992 to 1995 owing to the reorganisation of state authorities. In 1995, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted a decision on the re-establishment of the Commission, which was first appointed as a permanent working body of the Government in 2001. As such, it is responsible for considering and standardising all geographical names in the Republic of Slovenia and geographical names in the Slovenian language outside the Republic of Slovenia.

 
The basic tasks of the Commission determined by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of 2011 are the following:

• to perform tasks pursuant to the Act Designating Areas and Naming and Marking Settlements, Streets and Buildings (Uradni list RS (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia), no. 25/2008);

• to carry out international obligations of the Republic of Slovenia related to geographical names, i.e. representing Slovenia at UN meetings and within the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names; (UNGEGN);

• to perform other tasks related to UN resolutions and the recommendations of the UNGEGN, and to the preparation of standardization documents and the standardization of geographical names in the Republic of Slovenia;

• to perform other tasks determined by acts and other regulations.

The Commission decides on the above-mentioned issues at regular and correspondence sessions, by adopting opinions, views, recommendations and other decisions. In general, only simple matters are decided through correspondence sessions. If necessary, the Commission may establish sub-commissions, either as permanent or temporary working bodies, to preliminarily consider particularly complex matters and materials related to specific expert issues.

The Commission issues publications in printed and digital formats. The publications follow the recommendations from the resolutions of the relevant conferences on publishing materials and the latest findings of the UNGEGN working bodies, while informing the Slovenian and foreign expert public of the main developments important for the correct use of geographical names and their international integration.

Members of the Commission

At its 197th correspondence session on 8 April 2021, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted Decision appointing the Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names with the following composition:

Chairperson:

• dr. Matjaž Geršič, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute.

Members:

• dr. Drago Kladnik, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute,
• dr. Drago Perko, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute,
• dr. Metka Furlan, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language,
• dr. Helena Dobrovoljc, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language,
• Irena Grahek, Ministry of Culture, Slovenian Language Service,
• dr. Anja Fabiani, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Division for International Organisation,
• Marija Brnot, Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia,
• dr. Irma Potočnik Slavič, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography,
• dr. Matej Šekli, Faculty of Arts, Department of Slavistics,
• dr. Dalibor Radovan, Geodetic Institute of Slovenia.

Useful links

• United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN)
• East Central and South-East Europe Division of the UNGEGN
• UNGEGN Working Group on Exonyms
• Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
• Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia
• Spatial portal Prostor