Room, A: Nicknames of Places

Many places in the world, from the smallest settlement to the largest expanse of land or water, have one or more secondary names--nicknames, titles, or slogans by which it is known in addition to its formal or usual name. Rarely if ever found on maps or in gazetteers, such names feature widely in popular use, travel guides, journalistic articles, and literature of all kinds. New York City (for instance) is the Big Apple, Baghdad on the Hudson, City of Ambition, Empire City, Gateway of the USA, Gotham... This dictionary catalogs some 4600 such names worldwide, ranging from familiar to obscure, recently minted to archaic. Entries include explanations of the nicknames and one or more quotations documenting its use.