Why India city names on Google map and other maps only show English?

score:5

Accepted answer

For OpenStreetMap, objects can have several different tags for the name. The simple tag name is for the common, local name. They can also have tags for the name in other languages, using the ISO code for that language. eg name:enfor the name in English, or name:hi for the Hindi name. There are more tags for alternative names, or official names, or historic names etc.

It is up to the local community to decide what to use for the default name tag. In some places it will be obvious, if there is only one main language. But in places with multiple languages, it can be less clear, and may lead to disagreements about which one takes priority. So some countries could combine several different languages in the name tag.

Anyone producing a map using OpenStreetMap data can choose which of these name tags to use and show on the map. For the default map style on openstreetmap.org (known as 'Standard'), it only shows the name tag. Whereas for example, MapQuest Open shows the English name (name:en tag) followed by the local name if it is different. Or this Multilingual Map Test lets you specify what language to prefer.

Upvote:4

It depends on which tool you use; Google Maps for example allows this to be set to another language. Check http://www.tutorialspoint.com/google_maps/google_maps_localization.htm for detailed instructions.

I have it set since a long time to show all names in the local country's language, and I see city names in India in Hindi and English (well I assume that other language is Hindi, I wouldn't know).

Upvote:9

Google Maps has default language settings for all countries. English is a lingua franca in India, so it's a sensible default, but you can easily change the language. For example, here's Google Maps in Hindi:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@21.3210519,82.4442144,6z?hl=hi

Note the ?hl=hi at the end. The full list of languages is here, although many (eg. Tamil) are currently for the interface only and don't change the map tiles themselves.

(Disclaimer: I used to work on Google Maps.)

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