Hello, Rangoon!

It's probably not a bad idea to have a reference source such as Wikipedia or the CIA Factbook handy when watching the news. As we learn about the protests in Burma/Myanmar, we also learn that each media outlet has a policy regarding the name of that country. Using the name Myanmar implies that we believe that the junta in charge of the country has enough legitimacy to change the country's name. Naturally, the U.S., most of its allies, and many publications use Burma. In almost all cases, there's some qualification such as "The country formerly known as Burma" or "the country now known as Myanmar."

This is not all that uncommon, differing names for people and places. The capital of Finland, for example, is Helsinki, except in Swedish, where Helsingfors prevails. A few decades ago, China (once known as Cathay) changed the transliteration of many names, giving us Mao Zedong instead of Mao Tse-tung and Beijing instead of Peking. And, if then there's what's-his-name, the guy who heads up Libya.

So, now, Duane Ingalls Glasscock (RealAudio link) have to sign on with the cry, "Hello, Yangon!"