Place names may differ, depending on political or historical perspective, or changes over time. In 2019, the Ukrainian government ran a Twitter campaign and other efforts to encourage the world to update the spelling of the name of their capital city from Kiev to Kyiv. In November, they contacted us to request that Wikipedia articles include their preferred spelling. We explained how Wikipedia works, and referred them to volunteer editors, who were already discussing the topic. Both the previous and updated spellings are now used on English Wikipedia. Wikipedia relies on secondary sources to provide accurate information that volunteers can add to articles. As name and spelling changes gain acceptance in reputable third-party sources, Wikipedia will reflect that consensus.
Photo credits
