{
  "place_id": "vovchansk#7793_12052",
  "wikidata": "Q1104773",
  "country": "UA",
  "local_name": "Вовчанськ",
  "names": {
    "en": {
      "main": "Vovchansk",
      "why": "Current Ukrainian name in the national romanization adopted in 2010; the same system was adopted by BGN/PCGN in 2019.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Vovchans’k",
          "why": "Older Ukrainian transcription preserving the soft sign. BGN/PCGN 1965 Ukrainian transliteration, superseded for US/UK geographical use in 2019; supplied as a technical retrieval form."
        },
        {
          "name": "Volchansk",
          "why": "Russian-based form widely used in English maps and reporting."
        },
        {
          "name": "Vovčansʹk",
          "why": "ISO 9:1995 character transliteration of the Ukrainian name; a technical search form, not an independently attested English exonym."
        },
        {
          "name": "Vovchansʹk",
          "why": "ALA-LC Ukrainian table, 2011 edition, with its bibliographic diacritics; a catalogue retrieval form rather than a separate English exonym."
        }
      ]
    },
    "fr": {
      "main": "Vovtchansk",
      "why": "French transcription with tch for ч, directly attested in Le Monde’s reporting in 2024.",
      "alternatives": [
        {
          "name": "Voltchansk",
          "why": "French Russian-mediated spelling used in older sources and some reporting."
        },
        {
          "name": "Vovchansk",
          "why": "International Ukrainian spelling retained by some French sources."
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "about_en": "Vovchansk is a town in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast on the Vovcha River near the Russian border. Its history includes engineering and other manufacturing, and it suffered severe destruction during the war.",
  "about_fr": "",
  "certainty": "high",
  "notes": "",
  "rank": 569,
  "slug": "vovchansk"
}