{
  "place_id": "ventspils#8188_11198",
  "wikidata": "Q104036",
  "country": "LV",
  "local_name": "Ventspils",
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Ventspils",
      "why": "Latvian Latin-script name used in English, with native diacritics retained.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Windau",
          "why": "Historical German name established in English Baltic histories."
        },
        {
          "name": "Vindava",
          "why": "Russian-based historical spelling used in imperial and railway references."
        },
        {
          "name": "Windawa",
          "why": "Historical Polish form encountered in accounts of the Baltic region."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Ventspils",
      "why": "Same spelling as in English; French references retain the local Latin-script name, without a fixed article.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Windau",
          "why": "Traditional German historical name retained in French accounts of Courland."
        },
        {
          "name": "Vindava",
          "why": "Russian-mediated historical form found in older French geography."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Ventspils is a Latvian port city where the Venta reaches the Baltic Sea. Its castle and old harbour area reflect the city’s long maritime and trading history.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "high",
  "notes": "Ventspils is the Latvian name; the historical variants are not recent Ukrainian-style renamings. Input label 'Вентспілс' is Ukrainian or an indirect spelling; local_name is restored to the native-language form. Less common cross-language forms are for historical or regional text recognition, not recommendations for ordinary modern prose.",
  "rank": 321,
  "slug": "ventspils"
}