sbirdMar 22, 2025

Why do news articles and such call the governments of countries/groups of countries after the capital?

https://lemmy.world/post/27200646

Why do news articles and such call the governments of countries/groups of countries after the capital? - Lemmy.World

For example, “Washington” (US), “Brussels” (EU), “Moscow” (Russia). I guess it’s a short hand for writing “US government”, “Russian government”, etc. but why? And what happens when you’re referring to a country with multiple capitals like South Africa?

Show threadTreczoksMar 22, 2025
In general, I have seen mentioning the country after a city name quite often in American publications, and not only with capitals. Maybe this is because of the famous geographical knowledge of Americans?
Show threadDrainKikoLake

The US has a huge number of cities named after cities/regions in other parts of the world, e.g.:

  • Moscow, Idaho
  • Ottawa, Illinois
  • Brussels, Wisconsin
  • Ontario, California
  • Paris, Texas
  • etc!

Adding the country or state designation after one of these names is helpful for clarity.

Mar 22, 2025 at 11:21amWeb
Show threadѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρєMar 22, 2025
Side note, Paris, Texas is a pretty great movie.
Paris, Texas (1984) ⭐ 8.1 | Drama

2h 25m | R

IMDb
Show threadSanguineParMar 22, 2025
Seconded, brilliant film.