Wikidata:WikiProject Historical Place
The goal of this WikiProject is to discuss a recommendation for describing change of a place over time.
Historical names and boundaries of places edit
Boundaries of administrative entities change over time. Areas are united, split, relocated or terminated. The names of places vary over time and in different languages. They are related to the changes in administrative borders as well as dependent on context, dialect, regime etc.
- Tasks
- Record current best practises
- Identify challenging questions
- Create necessary missing properties
- Create pilot imports
Change over time edit
Add the results of discussion here, discuss on the talk page or the Wikidata-wide project chat!
A sequence of items vs. changing properties of one item edit
How long does a place remain the same item, and when is a new item required?
Examples of a single persistent item edit
Examples of a changing item edit
Properties to connect predecessors, successors, merges and splits edit
- replaces (P1365) / replaced by (P1366)
- gained territory from (P7903) / gave up territory to (P7904) : used as qualifier on significant event (P793) = boundary change (Q28953942), or occasionally other values https://w.wiki/396p
How to link entities hierarchically to historical administrative units edit
Hierarchy over time edit
Historical location vs current location edit
located in the present-day administrative territorial entity (P3842)
View and sort out existing classes for historical administrative division (Q19832712):
Useful classes:
- former administrative territorial entity (Q19953632)
- historical country (Q3024240)
- former municipality (Q19730508)
Questions edit
Examples edit
- In this case the change of the containing country of Oslo has been described with the property country (P17). Here is a related discussion.
<add more>
See also edit
See also properties for #Historical_regions below or merge the topics.
Time edit
Properties for time edit
Qualifiers for time edit
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| start time | P580 | Point in time | start time: when a statement starts being valid | Japan <capital> Tokyo <start time> 1868 | - |
| end time | P582 | Point in time | end time: when a statement stops being valid | Japan <capital> Heian-kyō <end time> 1868 | - |
| earliest date | P1319 | Point in time | earliest date at which an event could have happened. Use as qualifier for other date properties | date of birth of Jesus <earliest date> | - |
| latest date | P1326 | Point in time | unknown: latest possible time that something could have occurred. Use as qualifier for other date properties | date of birth of Jesus <latest date> | - |
| point in time | P585 | Point in time | point in time: date something took place, existed or a statement was true; for providing time use the "refine date" property (P4241) | 2012 United States presidential election <point in time> | - |
| valid in period | P1264 | Item | time period when a statement is valid | Tübingen <valid in period> standard time | - |
- Further fuzziness can be defined using the date property's precision.
- Examples needed
Toponyms edit
- Names in different languages, contexts, administration, script systems
- Change of names over time and in relation to boundary or administrative changes.
- Which datatypes and properties are used.
Questions edit
- Should place names be modeled as a property of a place or as separate items, either Q-items or L-items for lexical entries?
- Are place names in the scope of the Wikidata project. Current guidelines here: Wikidata:Lexicographical data/Notability#Proper Nouns
Properties to use for historical names edit
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| official name | P1448 | Monolingual text | official name: official name of the subject in its official language(s) | Germany <official name> Bundesrepublik Deutschland | - |
| native label | P1705 | Monolingual text | native label: label for the items in their official language (P37) or their original language (P364) | Moscow <native label> Москва | - |
These are based on practices that are used currently in Wikidata.
Qualifiers for the spelling edit
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| transliteration or transcription | P2440 | String | conversion of script: conversion of text to alternate script (use as a qualifier for monolingual text statements; please use specific property if possible) | Mohamed Ben Ahmed Convention Centre <transliteration or transcription> Jāmiʻat Wahrān 2 Muḥammad Bin Aḥmad and L9300 <transliteration or transcription> L8168 | - |
| ISO 9:1995 | P2183 | String | ISO 9: the Latin transliteration of Cyrillic text (used as qualifier) | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky <ISO 9:1995> Pëtr Ilʹič Čajkovskij | - |
| Revised Hepburn romanization | P2125 | String | Hepburn romanization: romanized Japanese following the Revised Hepburn romanization system | Tokyo <Revised Hepburn romanization> Tōkyō-to | - |
| Georgian national system of romanization | P2126 | String | Georgian national system of romanization: transliteration of text from Georgian script to Latin script according to the Georgian national system of romanization | Georgian <Georgian national system of romanization> kartuli ena | - |
Source statement edit
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| stated in | P248 | Item | reference: to be used in the references field to refer to the information document or database in which a claim is made; for qualifiers use P805; for the type of document in which a claim is made use P3865 | → Property talk:P248 | - |
| reference URL | P854 | URL | URL: should be used for Internet URLs as references. Use "Wikimedia import URL" (P4656) for imports from WMF sites | George Washington <reference URL> http://cths.fr/an/prosopo.php?id=107557 | - |
| quotation | P1683 | Monolingual text | citation: quotation supporting the statement claim (to be used in the reference or qualifier field only, no quote marks) | Curaçao | - |
| object named as | P1932 | String | use as qualifier to indicate how the object's value was given in the source | Before the embers <object named as> Léon Grandet | subject named as |
- There are several other generic source statements, such as date, page, chapter etc.
Questions edit
- official name (P1448) describes the official name in any language, and can be constrained by time. native label (P1705) is used to describe the local name. This could be used to display the variety of naming conventions, but the purpose of the property does seem limited to one original local form. See the discussion about the property. If native label (P1705) cannot be used for different purposes, there is still a property missing.
Example edit
Properties for places edit
- Select which features are in the scope of this project
- List the key properties for each type of place feature and how change is expressed
- Which WikiProjects should be connected with each feature?
- What external expertise is available?
- Identify missing properties. Note: Data type geographic shape is pending for the time being.
Generic, authority control edit
There are hundreds of identifiers marking geographic places. Here's a list of all Wikidata properties for authority control about places.
Please introduce significant identifiers here:
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeoNames ID | P1566 | External identifier | identifier in the GeoNames geographical database | Piton de la Fournaise <GeoNames ID> 935877 | - |
| OpenStreetMap relation ID | P402 | External identifier | OpenStreetMap relation: identifier for a relation in OpenStreetMap | Berlin <OpenStreetMap relation ID> 62422 | - |
| Pleiades ID | P1584 | External identifier | identifier for a place in Pleiades hosted at pleiades.stoa.org | Gortyn <Pleiades ID> 589796 | - |
| Trismegistos Geo ID | P1958 | External identifier | identifier of an ancient place on trismegistos.org | Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa <Trismegistos Geo ID> 30060 | - |
| Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ID | P1667 | External identifier | identifier in the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names | Siena <Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ID> 7011179 | - |
Place type matching edit
Also consider Pleiades place type (proposal). Link to wherever the work will be carried out, Mix'n'Match?
Administrative entities edit
There is a Request for Comments about modelling Countries, subdivisions, and disputed territories
- Which features are in the scope of this project
For example country, region, city, village, hamlet
- Related WikiProjects
- Administrative_territorial_entity
- Wikidata:WikiProject_Countries
- Wikidata:WikiProject_Country_subdivision
- Wikidata:WikiProject_Municipalities_of_Germany
Historical regions edit
| Title | ID | Data type | Description | Examples | Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| has part(s) | P527 | Item | has part, consist of and meronymy: part of this subject; inverse property of "part of" (P361). See also "has parts of the class" (P2670). using has part to link to present day administrative entities. It may be worth creating items for each point in time when the scope differs. | Occitania <has part(s)> Occitania | part of |
Houses, buildings and monuments edit
- Which features are in the scope of this project
- Key properties for the feature
- Missing properties
- Related WikiProjects
- Wikidata:WikiProject_Cultural_heritage
- Wikidata:WikiProject_WLM
- Wikidata:WikiProject_France/Monuments_historiques
- Wikidata:WikiProject_UK_and_Ireland/monuments
- Wikidata:WikiProject_Philippine_historical_markers
- w:Wikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places
- Expertise, participants
Natural features edit
- Which features are in the scope of this project
- Key properties for the feature
- Missing properties
- Related WikiProjects
- Expertise, participants
Streets, roads edit
- Which features are in the scope of this project
- Key properties for the feature
- Missing properties
- Related WikiProjects
- Expertise, participants
Other edit
- Wikidata:WikiProject_Geodata
- Geographical_WikiProjects
- OpenHistoricalMap is a copy of the OpenStreetMap software stack with the addition some additional magic around start_date and end_date.
- Wikimaps Are currently uploading historical maps and then digitizing them into OpenHistoricalMap.
Pilots edit
There are several datasets that are ready to be imported or are already being imported to Wikidata. List them here to make referencing them easier. Note the source and the Wikidata destination. Make remarks about decisions that were needed or need to be solved for the import to happen.
You can also introduce a dataset and ask for community discussion about importing it.
Resources: Historical Gazetteers edit
Add any resources you will find a useful reference or a future import. If a non-open source has been added, please make a note!
Global edit
- GeoNames
- Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (Linked Open Data version)
- Library of Congress Digital Gazetteer
- Historic.Place
- List of historical gezetteers and resources, Center for Geographic Ananlysis at Harvard University
- List of historical gazetteers at American Association of Geographers
- OpenHistoricalMap
- World Historical Gazetteer
Regional edit
Local / national edit
participants edit
The participants listed below can be notified using the following template in discussions:{{Ping project|Historical Place}}
- Susannaanas (talk) 07:40, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
- Abbe98 (talk) 16:53, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
- Iberti (talk) 17:05, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
- Eetu Mäkelä (talk) 18:13, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
- Jura. Good idea! Interested in place names (mainly).
- Humphrey Southall (talk) 13:43, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
- Fralambert (talk) 22:36, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
- Rainer Simon (talk) 10:10, 17 April 2016 (UTC)
- Melderick (talk) 13:56, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
- Llywelyn2000 (talk) 16:47, 7 June 2016 (UTC)
- Vladimir Alexiev (talk) 10:36, 15 June 2016 (UTC)
- Capankajsmilyo (talk) 21:04, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
- Ainali (talk) 08:59, 24 November 2016 (UTC)
- Jheald (talk) 01:15, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
- B20180 (talk) 05:33, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
- Elinese (talk) 19:19, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
- Salgo60 (talk) 10:34, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
- PKM (talk) 01:31, 15 April 2018 (UTC)
- Tris T7 TT me Tris T7 (talk) 19:53, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
- Sp!ros (talk) 16:07, 3 April 2019 (UTC)
- Pollockc (talk) 18:26, 25 November 2019 (UTC)
- ChristianSW (talk) 14:10, 10 December 2020 (UTC)
- Stephen Gadd (talk) 10:31, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
- Iain Hallam (talk) 01:36, 5 April 2022 (UTC)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||