{
  "place_id": "shchuchyn#7978_11374",
  "wikidata": "Q431779",
  "country": "BY",
  "local_name": "Шчучын",
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Shchuchyn",
      "why": "Belarusian-based English geographical spelling, preferred here to the Russian-mediated form.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Ščučyn",
          "why": "Belarusian national geographical romanization of 2007, recommended by the UN in 2012."
        },
        {
          "name": "Shchuchin",
          "why": "Russian-based spelling used in English maps and records."
        },
        {
          "name": "Szczuczyn",
          "why": "Polish historical name, ambiguous with the present Polish town of that name."
        },
        {
          "name": "Szczuczyn Nowogródzki",
          "why": "Polish historical distinguishing name for this Belarusian town."
        },
        {
          "name": "Szczuczyn Nowogrodzki",
          "why": "Unaccented version of the Polish distinguishing name."
        },
        {
          "name": "Шчучын",
          "why": "Belarusian original-script name, retained in quoted addresses and source titles; not a separate English exonym."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Chtchoutchyn",
      "why": "French reference spelling, adapted to French transcription conventions; usage is not uniform across publishers.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Chtchoutchine",
          "why": "Russian-mediated French reference form."
        },
        {
          "name": "Szczuczyn",
          "why": "Polish historical form used in French accounts of the former Commonwealth."
        },
        {
          "name": "Szczuczyn Nowogródzki",
          "why": "Polish distinguishing form in French bibliographical work."
        },
        {
          "name": "Ščučyn",
          "why": "Belarusian Latin spelling retained in French reference tables."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Shchuchyn is a town in Hrodna Region in western Belarus. Its palace and Piarist church complex reflect its connections with the aristocratic and educational history of the region.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "high",
  "notes": "Not Szczuczyn in modern Poland. Input label is Ukrainian or indirect; local_name gives the native spelling. The dated 2007/UN 2012 geographical system is distinguished from Belarus’s replacement domestic rules of 2023.",
  "rank": 669,
  "slug": "shchuchyn"
}