String A geographic name is a proper noun applied to a spatial object. The following are all valid geographic names for the Greek capital:

• Ana (the Greek endonym written in the Greek script)

• Athina (the standard Romanisation of the endonym)

• Athens (the English language exonym)

The country codes defined in ISO 3166 may be used as geographic names and these are generally preferred over either the long form or short form of a country’s name (as they are less error prone). The Publications Office of the European Union recommends the use of ISO 3166-1 codes for countries in all cases except two:

• use ‘UK’ in preference to the ISO 3166 code GB for the United Kingdom;

• use ‘EL’ in preference to the ISO 3166 code GR for Greece.

Where a country has changed its name or no longer exists (such as Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia etc.) use the ISO 3166-3 code [ISO 3166-3].

Athens