Placenames of Russia and the Former Soviet Union

This work gives the origins and meanings of geographical and political features of the former Soviet Union. All 15 countries that were once part of the U.S.S.R. are included. Each of the more than 2,000 entries provides, first, the name of the feature along with its Cyrillic counterpart, followed by the country, and the geographical location within the country; an account of the name’s origin and meaning then follows, with appropriate historical, topographical and biographical references. Cross references provide former names and alternate spellings or forms of current names.

The late Adrian Room was a noted toponymist and onomastician. The author of more than 50 reference books about words and names, he lived in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England.

Adrian Room
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 288
Bibliographic Info: appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014 [1996]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9369-2
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction 1
The Placenames 19

Appendix I: Common Placename Elements 243
Appendix II: Regional Names 246
Select Bibliography 251
Cyrillic-to-Roman Index 257

• “an attractive and enticing work of scholarship”—Reference Reviews
• “an impressive picture of geographic, historical, and political changes on the map of Russia and the former Soviet Union”—ARBA
• “a reference book replete with solid and interesting information…also good for browsing”—Names