Gazetteer

Lore & Background

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a gazetteer as a 'geographical index or dictionary'. Echard wrote that the title was suggested by a 'very eminent person' he did not name. Historian Robert C. White suggests this person was Edmund Bohun, whom Echard may have avoided mentioning due to Bohun's association with the Jacobite movement. Since the 18th century, 'gazette' has also been used to mean a daily newspaper, such as the London Gazette. Ancient Greek gazetteers existed since the Hellenistic era. The first known Chinese gazetteer was released by the ninth century, and with print media in China by the ninth century, the Chinese gentry produced local gazetteers as sources of information and local pride. The geographer Stephanus of Byzantium wrote a geographical dictionary in the sixth century (now partially missing) that influenced later European compilers. Modern gazetteers are found in libraries and on the internet.

Reader's Guide

Gazetteers serve as essential reference tools that organize geographical information in digest form. They are often categorized by type and scope: world gazetteers list countries with statistics; short-form gazetteers provide place-names with coordinates and appear as indexes in atlases; descriptive gazetteers include lengthy textual descriptions with maps and photographs; thematic gazetteers list places by theme (e.g., fishing ports, nuclear power stations). Editors gather facts from official government reports, censuses, chambers of commerce, and other sources. Historically, gazetteers have been used for administration, taxation, and military conscription. Pierre Duval wrote various geographical dictionaries on abbeys and ancient sites. Gazetteers remain vital for mapping, GIS systems, and general reference.

Did You Know?

• The first known Chinese gazetteer was released by the ninth century.