Guidance

Romanization systems

Guidance on the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN)/Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) romanization systems.

From:
Ministry of Defence
Published
1 July 2014
Last updated
826 DecemberJune 2023 — See all updates

Documents

Introduction to Romanization Systems and Roman script spelling conventions

PDF, 317 KB, 5 pages

Appendix: optimising software and operating systems to display BGN approved geographic names

PDF, 87.7 KB, 3 pages

Roman script spelling conventions

PDF, 149 KB, 1 page

Abkhaz romanization (updated June 2019)

PDF, 198 KB, 3 pages

Adyghe romanization (updated 19 February 2018)

PDF, 216 KB, 3 pages

Afghanistan romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 1010 KB, 7 pages

Amharic romanization

PDF, 409 KB, 3 pages

Arabic romanization (updated November 2022)

PDF, 2.02 MB, 10 pages

Armenian romanization (updated November 2022)

PDF, 178 KB, 3 pages

Avar romanization (updated June 2019)

PDF, 188 KB, 3 pages

Azerbaijani: table of correspondences (updated September 2022)

PDF, 249 KB, 3 pages

Baluchi romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 1.35 MB, 9 pages

Bashkir: table of correspondences (August 2019)

PDF, 220 KB, 2 pages

Belarusian romanization (February 2022)

PDF, 356 KB, 2 pages

Bulgarian romanization (updated September 2022)

PDF, 308 KB, 2 pages

Burmese romanization

PDF, 249 KB, 4 pages

Chechen: table of correspondences (updated September 2019)

PDF, 247 KB, 3 pages

Chinese characters romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 245 KB, 1 page

Chuvash romanization (updated September 2019)

PDF, 176 KB, 3 pages

Dzongkha romanization (updated 23 May 2023)

PDF, 527 KB, 4 pages

Georgian romanization (February 2022)

PDF, 269 KB, 2 pages

Greek romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 235 KB, 4 pages

Hebrew romanization (January 2020)

PDF, 349 KB, 8 pages

Inuktitut: table of correspondences (updated 27 April 2018)

PDF, 220 KB, 2 pages

Japanese Kana romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 610 KB, 7 pages

Kabardian romanization (August 2019)

PDF, 201 KB, 4 pages

Karachay-Balkar: table of correspondences (August 2019)

PDF, 221 KB, 3 pages

Kazakh romanization (February 2022)

PDF, 523 KB, 3 pages

Khmer (Cambodian) romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 369 KB, 6 pages

Korean romanization: for use in the Republic of Korea (updated September 2022)

PDF, 183 KB, 4 pages

Korean romanization: for use in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (updated September 2022)

PDF, 301 KB, 5 pages

Kurdish romanization (updated November 2022)

PDF, 383 KB, 8 pages

Kyrgyz romanization (February 2022)

PDF, 429 KB, 2 pages

Lao romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 145 KB, 5 pages

Macedonian Cyrillic romanization (updated DecemberNovember 2023)2022)

PDF, 388223 KB, 3 pages

Maldivian romanization (February 2022)

PDF, 415 KB, 3 pages

Moldovan: table of correspondences (updated January 2023)

PDF, 180 KB, 3 pages

Mongolian Cyrillic romanization (updated July 2019)

PDF, 166 KB, 2 pages

Neo-Tifinagh romanization

PDF, 207 KB, 5 pages

Nepali romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 202 KB, 3 pages

Ossetian romanization (updated September 2019)

PDF, 161 KB, 3 pages

Pashto romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 915 KB, 6 pages

Persian (Farsi) romanization (updated December 2019)

PDF, 509 KB, 8 pages

Russian Romanization (updated November 2022)

PDF, 148 KB, 3 pages

Rusyn romanization (updated September 2019)

PDF, 181 KB, 2 pages

Serbian Cyrillic: table of correspondences (updated November 2022)

PDF, 171 KB, 3 pages

Shan romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 618 KB, 4 pages

Syriac romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 206 KB, 3 pages

Tajik romanization (updated October 2022)

PDF, 194 KB, 3 pages

Tatar: table of correspondences (August 2019)

PDF, 876 KB, 3 pages

Thai romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 560 KB, 6 pages

Tigrinya romanization (September 2022)

PDF, 610 KB, 4 pages

Turkmen: table of correspondences (updated September 2022)

PDF, 270 KB, 3 pages

Udmurt romanization (August 2019)

PDF, 196 KB, 3 pages

Ukrainian romanization (February 2022)

PDF, 295 KB, 3 pages

Urdu romanization (updated 23 March 2018)

PDF, 798 KB, 6 pages

Uzbek: table of correspondences (updated November 2022)

PDF, 165 KB, 3 pages

Yakut romanization (August 2019)

PDF, 136 KB, 3 pages

Details

Guidance on BGN/PCGN romanization systems jointly agreed by the US Board on Geographic Names and PCGN for the romanization of non Roman script geographical names.

These are the romanization systems and tables of correspondences currently approved by PCGN and BGN. The date on each system is that of its joint adoption by BGN and PCGN. The systems and tables are regularly reviewed and all those listed here are in current use.

Related information

The Unicode Consortium For more information on displaying and using letter-diacritic combinations and non-Roman characters.

The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names established a Working Group on Romanization Systems to consider and reach agreement on romanization systems proposed by national official bodies for the treatment of names in non Roman scripts.

Published 1 July 2014
Last updated 826 DecemberJune 2023 + show all updates

  1. Updated Macedonian Cyrillic romanization.

  2. Updated: Introduction to Romanization Systems and Roman script spelling conventions.

  3. Attachment 'Dzongkha romanization' updated.

  4. Updated 'Moldovan: table of correspondences'.

  5. Updated 'Roman script spelling conventions'.

  6. Updated 'Arabic romanization' and added 'Neo-Tifinagh romanization'.

  7. 'Armenian romanization (updated November 2022)', Kurdish romanization (updated November 2022), Macedonian Cyrillic romanization (updated November 2022), Moldovan: table of correspondences (updated November 2022), Russian Romanization (updated November 2022), Serbian Cyrillic: table of correspondences (updated November 2022) and Uzbek: table of correspondences (updated November 2022) have been added.

  8. Updated 'Amharic romanization', 'Tajik romanization', 'Tigrinya romanization' and 'Moldovan: table of correspondences'.

  9. Updated Azerbaijani: table of correspondences, Bulgarian romanization, Korean romanization: for use in the Republic of Korea, Korean romanization: for use in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Turkmen: table of correspondences.

  10. Addition of: Romanization of Belarusian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Maldivian, Kyrgyz and Kazakh.

  11. Added and new version of Roman script spelling conventions.

  12. Added a new introduction and Appendix B.

  13. Added an updated version of Azerbaijani: table of correspondences.

  14. Added updated version of the romanization of Hebrew.

  15. Updated version of Ukraine romanization pdf added.

  16. Added updated documents for Romanization of Persian, Romanization of Arabic and Romanization of Ukrainian.

  17. Added updated documents: Table of correspondence for Chechen, and Romanizations of Chuvash, Ossetian and Rusyn.

  18. Updated the following documents: Kabardian romanization, Yakut romanization, Bashkir: table of correspondences, Udmurt romanization, Tatar: table of correspondences and Karachay-Balkar: table of correspondences.

  19. Updated documents for the following languages: Azerbaijani, Kyrgyz, Maldivian, Moldovan, Mongolian, Serbian, Tajik, Turkmen, Ukrainian and Uzbek.

  20. Added updated romanization documents for Avar, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Kazakh and Macadonian.

  21. Added updated romanization documents for Abkhaz, Adyghe, Armenian and Georgian.

  22. Added Russian Romanization (updated April 2019) PDF.

  23. Added Russian Romanization (April 2019).

  24. Updated Georgian romanization.

  25. Updated table of correspondences for Inuktitut.

  26. Updated the Abkhaz romanization.

  27. Updated a number of the romanization attachments.

  28. Updated 25 documents to the current Romanization Systems/Tables of Correspondences for February 2018.

  29. Added Rusyn romanisation.

  30. Updated Armenian, Belarusian, and Russian Romanisation systems.

  31. Updated Armenian, Belarusian and Russian romanisation documents.

  32. Added updated Japanese and Khmer documents.

  33. Updated the Lao romanisation document.

  34. Added updated Bulgarian Romanization system.

  35. Added revised romanization versions for Bulgarian, Macedonian and Tajik.

  36. Added updated Russian Romanization system.

  37. Updated the Russian romanisation document.

  38. Added updated Russian Romanization system.

  39. Added Macedonian and Tigrinya romanisation systems.

  40. Updated Urdu and Yakut Romanisation systems and several tables of correspondences.

  41. Added Romanisation system document for Kyrgyz, Updated the 2 Korean documents, as well as the LAO, Macedonian, Maldivian, Modern Syriac, Mongolian, Napali, Ossetian, Russian, Shan, Thai, Udmurt, and Ukrainian.

  42. Updated romanisation syetsm documents for Abkhaz, Adyghe, Amharic, Armenian, Avar, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chuvash, Dzongha, Georgian, Greek, Kabardian, Kazakh and Khmer.

  43. Updated the Afghan Romanisation as the previously published edition was not displaying correctly.