BGN/PCGN romanization are the systems for romanization and Roman-script spelling conventions adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN).

The systems have been approved by the BGN and the PCGN for application to geographic names, but they have also been used for personal names and text in the US and the UK.

Details of all the jointly approved systems are outlined in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency publication Romanization Systems and Policies (2012),[1] which superseded the BGN 1994 publication Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions.[2] Romanization systems and spelling conventions for different languages have been gradually introduced over the course of several years. The currently used set is available on the UK government site.[3] A complete list of BGN/PCGN systems and agreements covering the following languages is given below (the date of adoption is given in the parentheses). The status "agreement" refers to systems which were created by authorities of the corresponding nations and then adopted by BGN and PCGN.

Systems

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File link Language System Notes
BGN/PCGN romanization Adyghe 2012 system
BGN/PCGN national romanization system for Afghanistan Pashto and Dari 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Amharic 1967 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Arabic 1956 system; BGN 1946, PCGN 1956
BGN/PCGN romanization Armenian 1981 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Avar 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Azerbaijani (Cyrillic script) 2002 table of correspondences Note that the Government of Azerbaijan abandoned the Cyrillic script in 1991 and adopted the Latin alphabet to replace it.
BGN/PCGN romanization Baluchi 2008 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Bashkir 2007 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Belarusian 1979 System
BGN/PCGN romanization Bulgarian 2013 agreement The agreement reflects the official Bulgarian system.[4]
BGN/PCGN romanization Burmese 1970 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Chechen 2008 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Chinese 1979 agreement Chinese characters are romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Pinyin system.
BGN/PCGN romanization Chuvash 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Dzongkha 2010 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Georgian 2009 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Greek 1996 agreement Greek is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the ELOT 743 system.
BGN/PCGN romanization Hebrew (2018 agreement)
BGN/PCGN romanization Inuktitut 2013 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Japanese (Kana) 2017 agreement Japanese is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the modified Hepburn system.
BGN/PCGN romanization Kabardian 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Karachay-Balkar 2008 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Kazakh 1979 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Khmer 1972 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Korean
(North Korea)
BGN/PCGN 1945 agreement Korean is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the McCune–Reischauer system.
BGN/PCGN romanization Korean
(South Korea)
2011 agreement Korean is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Revised Romanization of Korean.
BGN/PCGN romanization Kurdish 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Kyrgyz 1979 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Lao 1966 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Macedonian 2013 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Maldivian 1988 agreement, with modifications 2009
BGN/PCGN romanization Moldovan 2002 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Mongolian (Cyrillic) 1964 system; PCGN 1957, BGN 1964
BGN/PCGN romanization Nepali 2011 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Ossetian 2009 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Pashto 1968 system, 2017 revision
BGN/PCGN romanization Persian 1958 system; updated 2019
BGN/PCGN romanization Russian 1947 system; BGN 1944, PCGN 1947
BGN/PCGN romanization Rusyn 2016 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Serbian (Cyrillic script) 2005 table of correspondences Serbian is not romanized by BGN/PCGN; instead, the Latin script that corresponds to the Cyrillic script is used.
BGN/PCGN romanization Shan 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Modern Syriac 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Tajik 1994 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Tatar 2005 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Thai 2002 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization Tigrinya 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Turkmen 2000 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Udmurt 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Ukrainian 2019 agreement Main article: Romanization of Ukrainian
BGN/PCGN romanization Urdu 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization Uyghur 2023 agreement Uyghur is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Uyghur Latin alphabet.[5]
BGN/PCGN romanization Uzbek 2000 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Yakut 2012 system

In addition to the systems above, BGN/PCGN adopted Roman Script Spelling Conventions for languages that use the Roman alphabet but use letters not present in the English alphabet. These conventions exist for the following four languages:

Notes

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  1. ^ The original publication refers to the language as Northern Lappish.

References

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  1. ^ "Romanization Systems and Policies". National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  2. ^ US Board on Geographic Names (1994). Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions (PDF). Defense Mapping Agency. OCLC 31881487. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ^ Romanization systems - GOV.UK Guidance on the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN)/Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) romanization systems.
  4. ^ Romanization system for Bulgarian: BGN/PCGN 2013 System. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, September 2014.
  5. ^ ROMANIZATION OF UYGHUR (Uighur): BGN/PCGN 2023 Romanization Agreement National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, October 2024.