{
  "place_id": "volozhyn#8004_11473",
  "wikidata": "Q200876",
  "country": "BY",
  "local_name": "Валожын",
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Valozhyn",
      "why": "Conventional Belarusian-based English form; the 2007 national geographical romanization is listed separately where it differs.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Volozhin",
          "why": "Russian-based historical English form; particularly familiar in writing about the yeshiva."
        },
        {
          "name": "Volozhyn",
          "why": "Older mixed English spelling."
        },
        {
          "name": "Valožyn",
          "why": "Belarusian national geographical romanization of 2007, recommended by the UN in 2012; dated system form, not a claim that domestic rules remained unchanged after 2023."
        },
        {
          "name": "Wołożyn",
          "why": "Historical Polish name quoted in English regional history and genealogical references."
        },
        {
          "name": "Valojyn",
          "why": "French-language name, relevant when an English text quotes a French source title or historical reference; not the selected English main form."
        },
        {
          "name": "Валожын",
          "why": "Original Belarusian spelling for matching local source titles and addresses cited in English."
        },
        {
          "name": "Воложин",
          "why": "Russian-script name recorded in local/reference sources, retained for matching quotations in English; not a preferred English spelling."
        },
        {
          "name": "Wolozyn",
          "why": "Diacritic-free typing or indexing form of Wołożyn for English retrieval; not a separate official name. Independent prose frequency is unverified."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Valojyn",
      "why": "French reference form using j for ж; Volojine and Volozhin remain familiar in French writing about the yeshiva.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Volojine",
          "why": "Russian-based French form used in accounts of the town and its yeshiva."
        },
        {
          "name": "Volozhin",
          "why": "International historical spelling, common in French Jewish religious writing about the yeshiva."
        },
        {
          "name": "Wołożyn",
          "why": "Polish historical name explicitly given in French reference material."
        },
        {
          "name": "Wolozyn",
          "why": "Diacritic-free typing or indexing form of Wołożyn for French retrieval; not a separate official name. Independent prose frequency is unverified."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Valozhyn is a town northwest of Minsk in Belarus, near the Naliboki Forest. Its celebrated yeshiva became an influential model for Jewish religious education.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "medium",
  "notes": "Volozhin is still useful in religious and historical writing about the yeshiva. The institutional name is not emitted as a separate civic alias. The Belarusian 2007 geographical system is identified by date; no claim that it remains the unchanged domestic standard after 2023. Reference pages checked 2026-11-15: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valozhyn ; https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valojyn.",
  "rank": 988,
  "slug": "valozhyn"
}