{
  "place_id": "varena#8012_11364",
  "wikidata": "Q835843",
  "country": "LT",
  "local_name": "Varėna",
  "forms": [],
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Varėna",
      "why": "Official Lithuanian Latin-script name retained in English.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Orany",
          "why": "Polish historical name quoted in English regional history."
        },
        {
          "name": "Warnen",
          "why": "German historical name recorded in English geographical references."
        },
        {
          "name": "Oran",
          "why": "Jewish-community name used in English historical and genealogical references."
        },
        {
          "name": "Varena",
          "why": "Diacritic-free typing/indexing variant of Varėna for English retrieval; independent prose frequency is unverified."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Varėna",
      "why": "Same form as in English; used in French geographical reference headings.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Orany",
          "why": "Polish historical name for French archival matching; not a current French exonym."
        },
        {
          "name": "Oran",
          "why": "Jewish-community name useful in French Holocaust research; independent French prose frequency unverified."
        },
        {
          "name": "Varena",
          "why": "Diacritic-free typing/indexing variant of Varėna for French retrieval; independent prose frequency is unverified."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Varėna is a town in southern Lithuania and an administrative centre of the Dzūkija region. The surrounding forests are associated with mushroom gathering, which the town celebrates in a local festival.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "medium",
  "notes": "Sources checked 2026-11-15: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varėna ; https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varėna.",
  "rank": 1202,
  "slug": "varena"
}