{
  "place_id": "oster#7830_11715",
  "wikidata": "Q1019815",
  "country": "UA",
  "local_name": "Остер",
  "forms": [],
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Oster",
      "why": "Current official Ukrainian name in national romanization (2010), adopted by BGN/PCGN in 2019; selected for English geographical use. Also matches BGN/PCGN Ukrainian romanization (1965). Also matches ISO 9:1995 character transliteration. Also matches ALA-LC Ukrainian romanization (2011 table).",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Ostyor",
          "why": "Russian-based spelling for matching older English geographical references; independent prose frequency unverified. Not a separate official renaming."
        },
        {
          "name": "Gorodets",
          "why": "Medieval fortress name printed in English history; refers to an earlier settlement site, not an unrestricted modern synonym."
        },
        {
          "name": "Stary Oster",
          "why": "Old Oster, the earlier settlement after destruction of the fortress; scope differs from the present city."
        },
        {
          "name": "Starhorod",
          "why": "Historical settlement name printed in English history; associated with the older site now called Starohorodka."
        },
        {
          "name": "Остер",
          "why": "Original Ukrainian spelling for local sources quoted or indexed in English."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Oster",
      "why": "Same as in English; used as the French locality heading.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Ostior",
          "why": "Russian-derived spelling explicitly printed in French locality prose; retained for older French source matching, not the current preferred heading."
        },
        {
          "name": "Gorodets",
          "why": "Medieval fortress name explicitly printed in French history; the old site and modern city have different footprints."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Oster is a small city where the Oster River meets the Desna in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine. Remains of a medieval church recall its role in the principality of Pereiaslav.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "medium",
  "notes": "The medieval fortress site and the later city are distinct historical footprints. The modern main follows Ukrainian Oster; Russian Остёр underlies French Ostior. Standard-derived forms support retrieval without implying English or French press adoption. Sources checked 2026-11-15: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oster ; https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oster.",
  "dropped": [],
  "version": 0,
  "rank": 1604,
  "slug": "oster"
}