{
  "place_id": "balaklava#7472_11866",
  "wikidata": "Q748363",
  "country": "UA",
  "local_name": "Балаклава",
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Balaklava",
      "why": "Current Ukrainian name in the national romanization adopted in 2010 and recommended by the UN in 2012; also the BGN/PCGN system adopted in 2019. This spelling also coincides with BGN/PCGN 1965 and ALA-LC Ukrainian 2011.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Balaclava",
          "why": "Established historical English spelling, especially for the Crimean War battle and the garment named after it."
        },
        {
          "name": "Balıqlava",
          "why": "Crimean Tatar Latin-script name; relevant in English accounts of Crimean Tatar history."
        },
        {
          "name": "Baliklava",
          "why": "Diacritic-free rendering of the Crimean Tatar name."
        },
        {
          "name": "Балаклава",
          "why": "Original Ukrainian Cyrillic spelling, useful for matching local documents and quotations; not a Latin-script English form."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Balaklava",
      "why": "Same spelling as in English; established French name for the harbour and the Crimean War battle.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Balaclava",
          "why": "Historical French variant, especially in references to the Crimean War."
        },
        {
          "name": "Balaklawa",
          "why": "Older European spelling reported in historical reference lists; low confidence in specifically French textual use, so treat as a search aid."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Balaklava is a harbour settlement within Sevastopol in southwestern Crimea. Its sheltered bay is overlooked by the ruins of a Genoese fortress and contains a former underground submarine base.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "medium",
  "notes": "UA follows internationally recognized sovereignty over Crimea. Balaklava is now within Sevastopol, not an independent city of the same municipal status as the other city records. No live occupation/control detail is inferred from the name.",
  "rank": 271,
  "slug": "balaklava"
}