• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.507-516
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• 1999

More than twenty-five major international bodies of water bear the names of particular nations or states. Many of these are not names are widely accepted, but considerable disagreement has developed in some cases. A systematic examination of the level of conflict over the use of national names for international bodies of water indicates that conflict is most likely to develop where shifting power relations among interested states produce concern about the hegemonic ambitions of the state after which the body of water is named. This is the case in the three situations where considerable contention exists over the use of a national name for an international body of water: the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea, the Sea of Japan/East Sea, and the South China SealBien Dong. Cases evidencing little contention are those where either no state has a significant interest in the naming issue, or where the name that is attached to the body of water is that of a state that has not been a historic threat to others in the region. Naming international bodies of water after nations or states is potentially problematic because such appellations can connote ownership or control by a single people or political entity. An understanding of the controversies surrounding these place names requires consideration of the geopolitical context in which they are embedded.